Well, was it everything you imagined?
by Logan27
Summary: I ignored the GLARING plot holes in the Timeless "Movie" and came up with something I think will allow us Garcia Flynn and Garcy fans to be happy with its ending. Some people on twitter were a big inspiration and I'm sure they'll recognize their input. Starts where we left Flynn in São Paulo in 2014. If you guys like it, I can continue.
1. Chapter 1

Garcia looked at the journal in his hands as the Lucy Preston of 2023 walked out of the bar with Wyatt and Rufus. He flipped through some of its pages before allowing himself to drop the charade of misery and a slow satisfied smile spread over his face. Two years _older_ than the last time she saw him and she hadn't realized it. It wasn't difficult playing his part. He had truly grieved the loss of his wife and daughter once so all he had to do was call on those memories; even if their events were nonexistent in this timeline. He had saved them and set the stage of their "murder" well, before putting them into hiding.

Lorna hadn't been all that upset when he told her it would probably be a long time before they could see one another again. The last two years of living in his former self's shoes had been a challenge. One that he hadn't surmounted. His wife and daughter had noticed the massive change in him, Even though he was there for them everyday and did nearly everything he could think of to make them happy, there was a disconnect that he simply couldn't do anything about. His very demeanor, small actions and mannerisms made his daughter distrustful of him and Lorena felt as though she were living with a stranger. On top of that, he hadn't made love to his wife in those two years. He was too in love with Lucy and it would have felt like a complete betrayal to both women.

What he had to do to accomplish taking up his old life still haunted him. Even if it started by accident...

 _Looking in on the 2012 version of him and his family had been bitter sweet. He could feel the effects of being in his own timeline ravaging his body and pretty soon he hadn't been able to stand anymore. He'd fallen on his back making the garbage cans on the side of the house clatter. The noise drew the younger Flynn out of the house and when he came across a man whose face was shadowed seemingly having a heart attack, he knelt down to help. The moment he touched his older counterpart's face to get a better look is when everything changed._

 _Simultaneously both Garcias felt paralyzed. Their bodies were frozen but their minds and souls seemed to collide. It appeared that the laws of nature would dictate that the version belonging to the time period would survive while the one who did not belong would perish but with the physical contact of hand to face, a battle had begun. It was a loophole that he hadn't expected._

 _The elder of the two could feel the surge against the other and knew he felt it as well. The time traveler hadn't meant to combat anyone but it was as though his spirit was constantly in warrior mode and out for blood no matter whose it was. The two were nearly of equal strength but this was not a fight of muscle. It was a war of will. The one thing that Garcia Flynn had gained in the years since his family died was an existence of determination and savagery his younger self knew nothing of. The past few years had seen him torn apart and beaten almost to the brink of death and the man who came out on the other side was one he viewed as monstrous. In this moment he could feel the weight of that truth._

 _The younger Garcia was a strong man but internally too gentle, too untested, even with his service in the military and work as an asset for the NSA. He was wholly unprepared for this encounter and as it continued, he began to lose. The man who had felt just moments ago that he was dying now had the sensation of building energy. Their point of physical contact held and the fight intensified; both using all their strength in this motionless brawl. A force of life being drawn out of the man who belonged and into the man of the future. Like a hunger, it wouldn't be satisfied until only one was left. Even though he was horrified by the exchange and seeing his younger self visibly weaken, Garcia couldn't stop. It was like an involuntary muscle reaction. He had fought too hard, for too long to do anything but win._

 _The pain was receding, being replaced by the syphoned strength. His lungs were soon able to fill as the breathing of his near identical opponent shallowed. Future Garcia took hold of the other man's forearm, feeling that his weakening was about to cause a physical disconnect. He wasn't sure what would happen to him once his past self was eliminated but he'd realized a possible window of opportunity if he survived that he simply couldn't let go._

 _"I am truly sorry," he quietly rasped as tears pooled in his eyes, "but it appears this world isn't big enough for the two of us and you haven't lost what I have. I can't pass up the chance to get it back. You don't know how to save them," he groaned in exertion, breathing heavily. "You have no hope of protecting them." He felt his rage build at his former inability to guard his loved ones. "But I do."_

 _2012's Flynn convulsed into a fit of a final attempt to survive but in the end, he went limp. The figurative light drained out of his eyes and in moments he was staring lifeless into his own guilted gaze. The victor took a shaky breath, sat up and was hit by what just happened. His younger self passed and yet he remained. The spark of an idea had panned out. Dropping the now dead arm, he began his practiced skill of detaching himself from the situation to take care of the business at hand. He could fall apart and analyze later._

 _Iris calling to her mother from inside sprung him into action. "Mommy, when is Daddy coming back inside?" He knew Lorena would soon come to investigate so he did the first logical thing that came to mind. He took the clothes from the body in front of him. Swiftly changing and carefully avoiding looking at his own deceased face, he then hid the corpse in the bushes until he could attend to it later._

 _By the time Lorena did come outside, Garcia was walking up to the house. "Is everything okay?" She asked, noting the blood on his face and his previously neat hair now in disarray._

 _"Everything's fine. Just a squirrel knocking over the trashcans. Little bastard came out of nowhere" He offered her a humiliated grin hoping that would explain his appearance. As fortune would have it, she believed him and gave him a pitying smile as and they walked inside._

 _His heart wept being in their presence again. He was no longer in love with his wife but he did love her very much. He felt like he was going to burst when his daughter jumped into his arms and it was all he could do to not fall into a mess of tears holding her. His little princess would now get to grow up because she finally had a version of her father who knew how to subvert the danger. He had two years to figure out a way._

 _Garcia had accepted his impending death while peering in the window. He had sent the Lifeboat back to the team in 1848, planning to see his family one last time before the effects of being in his own timeline took his life. The note he left for Lucy was the best way to comfort her and let her off the hook as much as possible. Even after having seen first hand that what was written in the journal was sometimes unreliable, he still believed certain things from it were set in stone. He thought that even if he and Lucy had gotten involved, she would ultimately end up back in Wyatt's arms. Thinking his emotions for her were realized too late to act on with how far her relationship with the young soldier had developed, he didn't have hope that the full extent of his love would be returned. That is, until the events just outside the Flynn home that night in 2012._

 _To the best of his understanding, even though the timeline he was from would now never exist, this version of him could because he was an anomaly that travelled from that other world. Thus breaking the thread of continuity from his younger, currently dead, self to the future one. Had he thought about this before, he would have believed that the younger version dying would cause him to die too. Turns out that him being the one traveling saved him from being erased. Had he been in 2018 and someone killed the young Garcia, the present one and the reality he belonged to would be gone in an instant. Thinking about it too much boggled his mind but he accepted the outcome and moved on to planning. He knew he could choose what came to pass from that damn journal!_

 _Later that night, when his girls has fallen asleep, he went out to deposit his doppelgänger's body on a beach. Afterward, he set to altering his dental records and finger prints in all government records and servers so that the body, when found, would not be connected to him. Just another John Doe in the dunes._

 _It took some months before he had a workable idea for how to proceed. He decided that to accomplish all he wanted to, some things had to happen as they originally did, or at least appear to. When the time came in 2014, Garcia took his findings of Rittenhouse bankrolling Connor Mason to his NSA contact. He knew he had four days from that point until the night they would come gunning for his family. He had told Lorena of the danger to her and their daughter. Even with the deterioration of the state of their marriage over the last two years, she saw reason and agreed to help him fake their deaths. They told Iris it was a game and the little girl had dutifully lain in a pool of faux blood just like her mother while Flynn took their pictures as a crime scene photographer would. He also took photos of them enacting being attacked. Iris wouldn't have been as good of an actress as Lorena but fortunately she didn't have to be. She'd been shot in her sleep._

 _Agents he knew he could trust were let in; mostly men he had found to help him steal the Mothership the first time around. With easily falsified reports and a carefully constructed scene in the house, everything was ready to go. No one from police to a coroner had to actually see the bodies for it all to look completely legitimate._

 _The night came and he sat in wait until he heard them almost soundlessly creep into his home. They had gone to his daughter's room first so that's where he began. Iris and Lorena were already smuggled out to their safe house and the step by step chaos he had so methodically mapped out ensued._

 _As soon as the would-be killers entered, Garcia flipped a switch and watched through his gas mask as the unnoticed concentrated deliriant fumes were released and soon filled the air. His teammates all had the same protective gear and went through disarming the hallucinating Rittenhouse squad. They'd lost control of their functions and Garcia's agents carefully stayed out of their eye sight in the dark, maneuvering everything. The projectors he'd set up with false images of his wife and daughter being slaughtered and then lying dead played across the walls in short flashes as the sounds of muffled gun shots filled their ears, increasing their inability to focus. It was all a process Garcia had to meticulously study before carrying out. The information garnered from the seedier experiments the government had conducted over the years were quite useful._

 _The incognizant team was led out into the night to their car that was well hidden yet parked at a good vantage point facing the house. When they gained back full awareness, it would be slowly and seamlessly as they sat in their vehicle. The call to the police from one of his neighbors who had heard a disturbance was rerouted to a fake 911 operator and men impersonating law enforcement showed up, eventually taping off the "crime scene" as the Rittenhouse agents watched with increasing lucidity._

 _The delirium had filled in the gaps in their memory so when they radioed in to report the job was almost complete, they genuinely believed they had taken out the Flynn family minus the head of the household who escaped in the mix. But that could be dealt with. Just like before, they framed Garcia for the two "murders" thinking that would take care of him. He then set off to Brazil. He knew the time and place to be._

Sitting in the bar now with the journal in front of him, he thought over the plan he'd just executed that had to go off without a hitch. It had its challenges but hindsight really was 20/20. Karl in particular had proved invaluable and Garcia was glad he'd gone to him in 2012 to get things going.

The wheels were set in motion. He knew his mistakes, the things that needed to change. He also knew the things that had to stay the same, both good and painful. He didn't relish the negative Lucy would have to go through but some of the bad things that happened made her stronger and more capable. They made her into a person she'd become proud of and he couldn't shy away from helping her achieve that. What he could do was help her see his side of things sooner. He could show her Wyatt's lack of awareness and his carelessness when it came to women he was involved with. But he would not make choices for her. She deserved the decency of him simply guiding her and revealing truths but not forcing her into anything. It was still her life and she needed to come to him on her own. He would do a better job of assisting in her journey, not choosing the destination. Garcia would also avoid killing people when he was able to. She had shown him a better way. He would live by her example of honor as best as he could.

Of course, Lucy would still think he was a terrorist at first but the road to earning her trust and forgiveness would be a shorter one. The Lucy who just visited him from 2023 would no longer exist by the time he was through. She deserved better than Wyatt and she deserved better from him. He could finally be that man for her. The man that wouldn't hinder her independence and growth. The man that would understand and love even her darkest of impulses and thoughts. The man who would respect her knowledge and capability and stand at her side while they won this fight together. If, after all that, she didn't want what he offered, he would accept it like before. But the connection they shared was too powerful for him to ignore and not give a full fighting chance.

Garcia would be off to Chechnya first to continue preparing. Some of the other people and supplies he needed were there in Russia. He finished the last of his drink and relished the thought of seeing her again in two more years.


	2. Chapter 2

"Garcia Flynn. Ex-NSA asset in Eastern Europe," the woman who introduced herself as Agent Denise Christopher began, indicating the profile on the screen in front of Lucy and the man she had just met, MSG Wyatt Logan.

"Ex since when?"

 _Decent question_ , Lucy thought.

"Since he killed his wife and child and went off the grid. That was a year ago. We thought he was hold up in Chechnya but apparently not."

 _Horrible answer. And it was nearly two years ago according to the date on the monitor. Plus his last known address is in here in California._ Controlling her need to internally correct people was not possible. The flow of information and commentary at least in her head was also helpful for keeping her more or less calm.

Agent Christopher paused the security footage, _which given the year and who owns the building, could have been in color._ But that was where Lucy felt she'd crossed the line into just being nit picky. "Honestly, all else aside, we're lucky he decided to come in the way he did."

"Seriously? Came in guns blazing, right?" Wyatt didn't seem like an overly bright man and he came across kind of like a jerk to Lucy but when she was feeling overwhelmed by being hauled out of her mother's house by the government and taken to a huge base for Mason Industries, he was the one who had a sound enough mind to ask any questions at all at first. Her nerves were getting the best of her. She needed to get a grip and stop focusing on details that were irrelevant.

"He and his team used non-lethal force. The guards and personnel they shot were only incapacitated, not killed. With a group as skilled as these men are, there's no way that was an accident. He took a hostage as you could see but he was careful not to cause any unnecessary damage. Makes me wonder." The agent again pushed play on the video feed.

Lucy had a brief moment to be conflicted. A man who would kill his own wife and child is obviously not even deserving of the title Human but then why go through the trouble of 'non-lethal force'? Wasn't that a sign of humanity and empathy?

"Why's he taking a Star Tours ride?" The Master Sergeant, with an air of boredom. _Too cool for school, huh?_ Her fondness for this man wasn't exactly growing.

The sci-fi looking globe that the man named Garcia Flynn got into suddenly disappeared. A sense of panic took over from the anxiety she'd had before. _So much for getting a grip,_ she chided herself.

Connor Mason entered mentioning a 'Closed Time-like Curve'. First time Lucy had ever heard the phrase that she could recall. "You're Connor Mason. My buddy has one of your cars." _Nice one, Genius._ Even with how freaked out she was, she still felt an internal eye roll at the soldier who just lowered in IQ in her estimation. _So much for a sound mind._ Being snarky towards him even if secretly had a similar effect as correcting people. It was all there was to hold on to for her at the moment.

Mr. Mason continued his explanation and Lucy felt herself being thrown like a spiraled football into a rabbit hole with Agent Christopher lecturing him about having not told the government about his newest invention. Then came the news about the Hindenburg and a costume, that was all wrong for the time period they were supposedly traveling to, shoved at her. Before she knew it, she was strapped in to another, older looking, lower tech globe that had been lowered from the ceiling, sitting across from a drunk Delta Force Sergeant and a 'Pilot, kind of'. In this 'prototype'... 'The Lifeboat' Connor Mason had called it.

 _Well, I'm definitely not going to get a grip now_.

* * *

The trip to May 6th, 1937 was a whirlwind. Lucy was having intense moments of fear and stress mixed with the awe of mingling with the smells, sights and people in an earlier decade of the 20th century. _Mom would have been just as gobsmacked._

"Hmph," MSG Logan, ever the brilliant resident military man. Lucy had another eye roll and this one was visible though no one noticed. First he runs off to save Kate Drummond, never mind that she didn't need saving since Flynn altered the events of the Hindenburg. Then she finds out he brought a modern gun with him. She was still irritated that he'd risked the Nazis getting ahold of that thing. A 1930's revolver would have worked just as well.

"Hmph, what?" Rufus asked him to clarify.

"Well, there are five of them, but... they're really small." They were all keeping their voices down so they didn't alarm the passengers. The devices they'd found, originally looked like bombs especially given the detonator they'd found on Flynn's goon earlier but Wyatt recognized the gas canisters attached to them. "They wouldn't have killed everyone on board, just the people sitting within a three foot radius of them."

Lucy recognized the passengers they'd disturbed while checking around the seats. The devices were placed closest to the 'luminaries' Lucy had read from Kate's column. This Garcia Flynn had planned to take out people whose deaths would cause catastrophic damage to the timeline but he was again careful not to needlessly harm other innocents. She had another moment of conflict. A third of those people on the inbound Hindenburg trip were suppose to die and the change to history distressed her but then the thought of those 35 people walking free and getting to go on to live the rest of their lives coupled with all the ones Flynn avoided hurting on the Outbound trip and the ground... Who was this man who would murder his own family yet would go to extra lengths to keep others he didn't know safe? Why would such a monster care?

"There could still be an actual bomb on board. There's not enough time to check the rest of this thing. We need them to turn the ship around and land." It was a tall order but Lucy and Rufus set off to do just that leaving Wyatt with Ms. Drummond to keep looking for additional dangers.

While threatening the crew, masquerading as the 'Anarchist Black Cross', Lucy and Rufus hear a gunshot and the roar of the resulting explosion. _Who the hell would be stupid enough to fire a gun on a dirigible airship?!_ A flash of Wyatt's face went through her mind as she and Rufus scurried to escape the craft that was swiftly catching fire.

After getting her feet back on the ground and everyone was in a state of utter hysteria, Lucy turned only to come face to face with the terrorist Garcia Flynn who seemed intent on killing key influential members of history. He had his gun aimed at her and she took a sharp inhale letting in with it the kind of fright she hadn't felt since her car accident in college. The heavy thrumming of her heartbeat in her ears was stoked by the heat of the inferno and her limbs began to tingle. Her limited medical knowledge was trying and failing to come to the surface but she was pretty sure tingling wasn't good in one's extremities.

"It's time we talked."

 _Talk. Okay, that's better than shooting_. Lucy desperately tried to force a sense of logic but the terror was hard to fight. _He wanted to talk before all this though, right? Isn't that what the guy who grabbed me in the hanger had said? 'Flynn wants to talk to you'?_

At the time she thought he meant Flynn wanted to talk to one of the three sent after him, maybe threaten them and scare them off. But this killer's next words changed her perception.

"You need to understand who and what you're dealing with." The tall, dark haired man stalked closer.

Gathering all her courage Lucy looked him square in the eyes. "I understand you're a psychopath trying to burn everything to the ground."

"Well, that depends on your point of view, Lucy." She froze.

Him knowing her name made her feel immediately stripped bare and vulnerable. He knew it. He said it like he knew _her_. She wasn't just one among a team to him. He had her identity and her mouth dried as she still tried to keep the fear at bay; a task that was rendered even more difficult when the confrontation continued. Before, she'd felt a sense of protection that anonymity afforded her. If the bad man didn't know who she was, he couldn't get her. Childish way of saying 'Knowledge is Power' but the idea stands.

"How do you know my name?" She stood apprehensive for the answer.

* * *

Seeing the terrified expression on her face pained him. It was hard to bare this phase of their relationship. He didn't want to scare her but he knew he had to. He had to scare her now in order to keep certain things in line for her future. A new future for him as well. It took everything he had to maintain the event that wiped her sister Amy from the map. It would be one of those dreaded things that would torture Lucy. But it had to happen and he knew exactly how to return the younger Preston so at least it wouldn't last.

Garcia had to bite back his frustration at her shooting an insult about him murdering his family, just as he had the first time around. He didn't change his script and he could see her losing it over seeing her journal, tears springing to her eyes and a quiver in her voice. He knew he probably hadn't changed things enough to get a different reaction from her yet. He'd let her hear the name Rittenhouse but he couldn't explain right now. He knew Wyatt was on the way.

"Lucy, I'm not your enemy. You mean so much to me and you're going to save countless lives." _So much for the script_. But he couldn't help showing his heart just a bit. "You just need to know more. Dig for the truth, Lucy. Not just about me but about yourself. I'll be here when you're ready."

For a brief moment, Lucy's eyes bore into his in an all together different way. She was searching. Was that a hint of faith he saw? Belief? This was a new development at this stage. A mixture of relief and strife hit him simultaneously. He was happy to see this change but a short flash of his lifeless face and blank stare from almost two years prior appeared in his mind. Garcia knew he was deserving of her trust. It would be well placed. But it didn't _feel_ that way, the guilt of that night still gnawed at him occasionally. He couldn't linger on it since another pressing matter took a blurry form over her shoulder.

He focused in behind her knowing what he would see. He spun Lucy around in his arms and held her in front of him and forced his next words. "I know for a fact that you're not gonna shoot." _Fuck, this is gonna hurt._

The shot Garcia knew was coming fired and a searing pain in his shoulder knocked him back. _If it wouldn't make her hate me, I'd kill that asshole_ , he thought as he returned fire and ducked away. He also had to begrudgingly admit to himself that Wyatt was necessary. The pair were both distracted with the woman bleeding on the ground he hadn't meant to hit as he escaped. Unlike in his original timeline, he felt a pang of regret for having shot the reporter. He hadn't thought to look into if she survived it last time and he wasn't sure he wanted to know this time. One of the downsides of Lucy's influence. She had made him regrow a decent conscience.

He needed to return to 2016, but then? Next stop- Washington D.C., April 14th, 1865. He had a play to catch.

* * *

Lucy was shaken. The conversation with Flynn had made her more confused than she was at the beginning of the trip. He seemed so sincere and had planted doubt about her new 'friends' from Homeland Security and Mason Industries. Her mind told her that he was insane and she shouldn't listen to him but her gut was trying to drag her in the other direction. Normally, Lucy was a sense over sentiment kind of woman but the look in Flynn's eyes... She couldn't extricate that look from her mind. As though it were burned onto her retinas. Amy will definitely tell her to trust her instincts. That's always her sister's advice but Lucy will ask her anyway.

She hated the feeling that Flynn, a man she had never met until today 79 years ago ( _whoa_ ), was naggingly familiar. What scared her more than all the information he had was that he spoke to her like they knew one another. Intimately. He was a haunting, dangerous figure but he conveyed a connection with her that was impossible for them to have... _Right?_ She wasn't buying the journal story but the handwriting was eerily similar to her own. It bothered her that she couldn't completely dismiss it.

Frustration bubbled when Agent Christopher denied knowing anything of this 'Rittenhouse' person. _How in the hell am I suppose to 'Dig for the truth' if no one can or will answer my questions?_ Her mind pushed that it was the first option. No one can answer those questions because Flynn was a psychotic killer. But her stubborn gut fought back that it was the latter. No one will answer them.

Lucy didn't trust Denise Christopher nor did she trust Connor Mason. One dealt in lies and secrets for a living and the other had made not one, but two dangerous machines that put the world in peril.

Wyatt appeared as what she imagined a typical American soldier to be. He was more brawn than brains and he'd made mistakes on this trip but he had tried. She wasn't fond of him but she realized she could rely on his skill and effort. Rufus was incredibly intelligent in so many ways Lucy wasn't. It's not that she didn't have the capacity to understand his field, she just never had the interest and therefore didn't carry the background to keep up. She could also feel such a deep kindness in him that she wanted to protect. Each of them brought something unique and integral to the table. It made sense that this type of group was assembled. But Lucy didn't trust her male teammates either.

That was something else that bothered her among the myriad of things that were at present. The people she wanted to trust, she didn't; and the man she didn't want to, she oddly did if only just a speck an only in the most primal of ways. She shook her head trying to rid herself of that notion. _What the hell am I thinking? That can't be what that feeling is. I was petrified to the point of a near mental breakdown. I was confused. But trust? How could I even be tempted to believe a word that man said? That couldn't be it._

And that almost tangible connection she felt when they locked eyes? The pull of his voice? The persistent Déjà vu of his presence? All a part of the great acting skills of a sociopath who can manipulate and display emotions at will. She didn't know what he would do next but she was looking forward to going home and seeing Amy. She didn't care what Agent Christopher had threatened her with, she'd tell Amy everything because her sister was her best friend. Amy was also the kind of person most likely to believe such a crazy tale.

When she got to her house however, Lucy walked into what first looked like a dream come true but turned out to be a living nightmare.

 **To Be Continued...**


	3. Chapter 3

Garcia paced the floorboards of Herndon House waiting for John Wilkes Booth to walk in the door. Though he knows that when Lincoln's assassin does come in, he'll have been followed to the meet up by the 'Time Team' on their second mission. A grief-stricken Lucy in tow. The hell of losing her sister would be slightly dulled by the stimulation the era was giving her intellectual passions but it would still be there. And when Booth walked in, he would have to act surprised to spot them out the window and fire shots which of course wouldn't land on any of them except a superficial one to 'Captain Sunshine'. Wyatt was necessary and so was Rufus. With Rufus, what Garcia had written to Lucy in that goodbye letter that would never exist was true. He didn't hate the guy. Garcia had actually enjoyed the nerdy pilot's company from time to time. The budding ease they grew with one another was no small thing; especially not for Rufus after the events with Al Capone.

But those events hadn't come to pass in his here and now. Garcia almost missed that damn bunker. Some of the best memories in his recent years were had during his stay there. The first time he filled in for Wyatt on a mission in Salem and he learned that he and Lucy were more in sync than he thought possible. Not only with their silent communication at Bathsheba Pope's house right before he began pummeling her husband but when he overheard Rufus say through the commotion at the thwarted hangings that the 'new Lucy' agrees with Flynn but Rufus dug it.

There were also the quieter moments with Lucy that constantly clung to the surface of his thoughts. 'It Happened One Night' hadn't been the only movie they'd watched together, simply the first. And the long conversations that started after helping Robert Johnson record his album in Texas. Those were amazing, particularly when she wasn't drunk, but he adored them either way. She had actually called him a 'tall, dark and handsome tree of a man' that night with a vodka bottle in one hand. He hadn't taken it too seriously but it was highly amusing. She had insisted he not sleep anywhere but his bed. With her in it. Her words were slurred but she was very adamant so he relented. The absolute melting of his heart came when she snuggled into him and it was the start of a habit whenever she would come knocking on his door late at night. They wouldn't talk about it and there was the facade that it was no big deal but...

That's when Booth walked in where Garcia and the rest of the conspirators congregated. It was time. The glance and double take out the window mid-stride showed him what he knew he would find. Lucy, Wyatt and Rufus trying to get a better look. The following exchange of gunfire didn't happen any differently except he got genuine pleasure when he hit Wyatt in his side. _That's what you get, Cowboy._

Afterward, even though he knew it wouldn't have any affect at all on the outcome, he and some of Booth's men sabotaged General Grant's train forcing the future President and his Aide to stay in D.C. It didn't take long before he saw Lucy where she had been the time before, talking to Robert Todd Lincoln. He took a deep breath and sighed his annoyance. He knew this was coming but it bothered him now when it hadn't before. A boisterous laugh came from Lincoln at something she'd said and then came what Garcia now knew had been an invitation to the play. A flirty goodbye and then the historical figure departed putting on his Union cap. Garcia was using the tired old cliche of a Newspaper hiding his face but it worked. She hadn't spotted him.

He stuck to his history and followed her into the station. "We really have to stop meeting like this, Lucy." He knew it sounded sinister but that was the point.

"You son of a bitch. My sister is gone. Disappeared because of something you did to the Hindenburg!"

"It's war. I lost my whole family."

"Because you murdered them," she fired back. _Right on cue._

He recited his half of their conversation with ease, raising his voice when needed and softening his expression when that part came as well. He hadn't remembered it verbatim but her end roused natural responses he was certain resembled his recollection. He knew Rittenhouse was indeed a 'him' as well as a 'they' but that could be sorted out on a future trip. Soon she had her finger in his face again, demanding answers. He was even happier seeing her courage find her this time than he was the first time he met the younger Lucy Preston in another timeline's 1865.

He grabbed her wrist and then strayed from the past. "I would tell you not to get in my way again but I think we both know you won't listen." His eyes dropped to the top of her dress as he held fast just below her lace covered hand. A light smile appeared on his face as he glanced back up to her eyes. "Burgundy is my favorite color on you, Lucy. You should wear it when you come with me to bring back Amy." And with that bomb dropped, leaving her jaw popped open in shock, he let go of her arm and walked out.

* * *

 _'Son of a bitch' is right!_ Lucy screamed in her mind. _How dare he play with me like that?! Even if he didn't kill his wife and child, he's still a wretch of a man to dangle Amy in my face! And how does he know about her? Same way he knows everything else, I suppose. That stupid journal of his... or mine... or, oh, whatever!_

She marched down to a shop. She needed to get a dress for the play and she damn sure wasn't going to wear burgundy!

Speaking with the seamstress took a lot of her anger out, temporarily at least. The kind woman only had to take the powder blue dress in just a bit. It was ready within a half hour. It was so gorgeous she probably would have chosen it anyway. Though Flynn's earlier comment definitely made her mentally falter when she caught herself drawn to a pretty maroon floral in the corner. _Well, it's maroon, not burgundy. That's something._

The thought of that play tonight made her anxious. She had really enjoyed talking to Robert. _Oh, we're calling him Robert now, are we?_ Her inner voice teased. She had a momentary blush but returned to concern. The President's son had been on that functional train in the history she'd learned. He hadn't seen his father get gruesomely murdered right in front of him. _By an actor he'd praised earlier that day no less!_ Her stomach was tied in knots at the image. Not to mention that President Lincoln was her favorite. She wanted to strangle Flynn. He was the reason she would now know these men who were facing certain and possible death. Not to mention Lucy herself would be in that balcony. Her thought of her own safety paled in comparison to that of worry over the Lincolns and other men in danger tonight but still. It was on the list.

Lucy had wanted to agree with Rufus earlier that they should save The President but history was too important. An argument that she made when she returned to their room, which ended in tensions between her and both men.

As she switched out her dress for the fancy one in the box, Lucy couldn't help hearing Flynn's suggestion in her head. ' _Burgundy is my favorite color on you, Lucy' as if he's seen me in a bunch of colors to know which is his favorite_. And then the zinger: _'You should wear it when you come with me to bring back Amy'._ He hadn't said 'your sister'. He'd called her by name. Like he knew her. Another one of the Preston girls he happens to know. Just another piece of what Lucy felt was personal information that he was privy to. What really stuck out was the _'when you come with me'_ part. _So, what? He's going to save her with or without me? That has to be some kind of cruel trick he's trying to pull,_ she thought _._ But was it?

There was also the double entendre of her going with him wouldn't only be for Amy. There was an air of permanence to it. For reasons unknown, he wanted her to be on his side. From what he said near the blazing Hindenburg and today, he thought she was a future ally. Ally may be too impersonal a term given what he'd said about her- that she meant so much to him and he would be there for her when she was ready. The man had a way of looking at her life a caress and Lucy knew she should be creeped out by that but simply wasn't.

If by some small chance he would actually return her sister to existence, that would mean he would save his family too, right? _Then why was he flirting with me? He was flirting with me, right? Did I imagine that?_ Her mind paused on the thought before she shook herself. _Oh, for Pete's sake!_ And she vaulted off of her perch leaning against the wall behind the sectioned room divider where she changed.

Soon, Robert ( _yes, I call him Robert in my head!_ Lucy beat her other, more teasing voice to the punch) was there in the lobby to pick her up. She took a deep breath in an effort to prepare herself for the dreaded evening ahead. Robert was the kind of man she would normally be over the moon about asking her to something like this but not tonight. Tonight he was the sorrow waiting in her heart. Tonight he was the pity and regret she could never properly convey. If she lived through this, she would always remember the tragedy that were in Robert Todd Lincoln's blue eyes. Of that, she was sure.

* * *

Garcia knew she'd be in there. It would come as no surprise when he burst in this time. During one of their long talks, Lucy had told him her thoughts of this night.

 _"When you came barreling through that door... I expected Booth, but saw you instead. I was so shocked, I almost couldn't comprehend what was happening. And then I saw your expression. At the time, it all happened so fast but afterward I thought about how caught off guard and terrified you looked. You hadn't expected me to be there but what's more, your instant reaction was to despair over what I was about to see you do. It took me a while but I eventually came to know that even then you cared what I thought of you."_

 _"How do you know I was in despair over that?" He turned his head to look at her. Sitting with her back to the wall on his bed in the bunker just as he was._

 _"Your face told me everything before I knew I could understand it. You keep things close to the vest around everyone... except me." What that revealed was something they both glossed over. "It was a subtle yet powerful moment that lead me to try and help you instead of letting Wyatt kill you."_

 _"Like he could." At that, they both started to laugh._

The memory put a smile on his face.

Garcia was leaning against the back of Ford's theater, hearing the laughter from within. Instead of arguing with Booth to take the modern gun he offered because he knew the little shit wouldn't anyway, he just went straight to knocking him out when the shorter man strode by him before entering the establishment himself.

It wasn't easy working himself back up into the kind of anger he'd had before. Garcia Flynn didn't have much in this world to be angry about these days. Rittenhouse still needed to be taken down and Lucy could rile him up but nothing like the fueled and burning hatred, crushing loss and broken spirit that seethed out of him when he had newly experienced these moments.

He stood in the hall just shy of the balcony door trying to picture Iris' lifeless body in the timeline he had tried and failed to protect her. Lorena shot down on the floor. The agony as he had no choice but to leave them there so he could get away. He couldn't do anything for them at that point but he still loathed himself for the cowardly action he saw it as. Before getting the original journal from Lucy, he had wished he stayed and joined them. That was it. There was the charge he needed.

Garcia stormed in and stared in a moment of stunned silence when he locked eyes with Lucy. Her dismay was the same but one of his actions differed. He didn't shoot President Lincoln in the back of the skull.

He shot him in the arm instead; a fact Lucy hadn't realized at first, blood spatter getting on her dress. He still let all the ferocity show that had frightened her at the time but later would be the groundwork for her faith in his resolve. He also still pistol whipped her 'date'. Her scream at the horror of being hit by blood nearly caught him but he pushed through. It was one of the jarring trials she would need under her belt and she would learn soon that Lincoln in all likelihood would go on to serve another four year term. _Sucks to be Andrew Johnson. His term as a President may just get passed over for Grant's from 1869 to 1877. Eh, Johnson's Rittenhouse anyway, and he was impeached. No big loss._

When he got to the part where he originally choked Lucy, Garcia couldn't do it. The hand wrapped around her neck couldn't even squeeze the little it had before. He still heaved her back onto the Victorian chaise, fought the other men on the balcony and then jumped to the stage.

The night vanished and he would never have to see it again. It was out of the way. Lucy's screams stopped echoing in his head after a few hours and only reoccured every so often. He hadn't handled it well last time so he knew this one would be a kick in the teeth. Even with sparing Lincoln and knowing that Lucy would have discovered that after taking a minute to breath. Loving her only made those parts harder. Next to impossible. He resorted to calling forward his memories of them in the bunker as a comfort.

 _"I didn't really have a lot of time to wallow in it that night. After 1865 I got back to my Mother's and a stranger that I was apparently engaged to started kissing me." She laughed at what was now a slightly funny awkward thought._

 _"Noah, right?" Lucy nodded, face sobering._

 _"He was such a sweet guy. He was supportive and he tried so hard to be understanding and work with me when I pulled away. The look on his face. He didn't understand why something like that was happening to him. He didn't know what he did wrong. And of course he didn't do anything wrong. The woman he loved, who loved him back, just disappeared one day. Replaced by me."_

 _"Lucy, you didn't do anything wrong either. If people knew the truth, no one would expect you to marry a man you didn't know. I'm surprised you even played along for the time you did."_

 _"Still. And that was the second man I would let down that I met that day." At seeing his confusion, she continued. "Robert Todd Lincoln. He had one of the brightest smiles I've ever seen and such hope in his eyes. Had I made the choice then that I would make now, his father never would have died and the spirit he exuded would never have diminished. I just sat there and watched as his world fell apart."_

 _Garcia didn't know what to say of Robert Lincoln. He had pulled the trigger, causing the man's loss of spirit. He's the one Lucy felt guilty for not stopping. The second man however, he did know something that might help. "This Noah... your Mother liked him?" Lucy nodded again. "How did she react when you 'pulled away' from him?"_

 _"She was not happy." Emphasizing the negative._

 _"Your Mother who was so proud that both she and your father were from strong pureblood Rittenhouse families? Whose daughter was 'practically royalty', eh?" Asking leading questions, he saw the instant the lightbulb came on for her._

 _"Noah is Rittenhouse."_

 _"I'm not saying that for sure. I never found out and he wasn't one of the 200 arrested with Ethan Cahill's room packed with evidence. But it is a strong probability. So I wouldn't feel too bad if I were you."_

 _Lucy looked at him with a grateful grin before leaning her head on his shoulder. "Thank you." She exhaled her relief. Even if it wasn't true, the possibility helped lift the guilt._

He should really check out this Noah character. Lucy would be with him that exact moment. First at the engagement party and then at their shared home that she knew nothing of. He made a comment to Karl to look into it. Garcia could delegate things to Karl and feel confident it would get done. He picked up the flash drive next to him. It was full of things he'd downloaded before stealing the mothership. A gift for Lucy that had to wait for Nazi swastikas and a Castle with 'Priest holes'.

 **To Be Continued...**


	4. Chapter 4

This is a longer one. Without Lincoln's assassination playing out, things in 1865 take an unexpected turn and the Team are there for a little longer than they'd like.

* * *

Lucy had just told the officer that John Wilkes Booth was a conspirator in tonight's close call so he's one to look for. In the chaos after the first gunshot, Lincoln had been hunched over but it wasn't until Flynn had leaped off the Balcony and disappeared through the stage curtains that she saw the President's arm was the only thing injured and everyone seemed positive he'd be fine, a prognosis Lucy was very confident in herself. The eldest Lincoln was helped out of the theater but still able to walk on his own clutching his arm to his side. Robert, her escort tonight had gone with his father but not without a look back in her direction. His eyes were filled with adoration, asking her to wait for him to return. She told Wyatt and an ecstatic Rufus when they came down the street. They hadn't seen any of it happen so it was news to them. Lincoln was alive and already being attended to.

"You changed your mind? You saved him?" Rufus' toothy grin covered half of his face and before giving her a chance to correct him, he hugged her and kissed her on the cheek and then walked off toward a group of black union soldiers who seemed just has hyped.

"Good job, Luce." Wyatt gave her unearned praise. "Proud of you."

She started to tell him what really happened when Robert appeared from the doorway of the Doctor's office across from the Theater. He looked out scanning the crowd and his eyes finally fell on her and his entire face lit up more beautifully than a sunrise. She could swear everything about that man was perfect. There's not a single thing on him that she would change. Not even that mustache of his. It was actually quite nice on him.

Every time he laughed or leaned over during the play and whispered a comment to her, she'd wanted to be able to join him in his amusement. But the dreaded anticipation of Booth's arrival had made her barely able to go through the motions. Robert must have just thought his father made her nervous. A completely reasonable thing to assume. Had Lucy been able to relax, she would have leaned her head closer to his as he spoke with that mischievous glint in his eyes. He was so good natured yet knew how to revel in the fun around him with grace and humor. And he didn't lack a strong sense of responsibility and duty. All of the good qualities she had admired in men over the years were pouring out of this one. She'd learned a fair amount about him on their stroll to the performance.

"Juliet!" He called and made his way past the onlookers. "Juliet!" Robert reached for her hands and clasped them with his. Lucy couldn't help but return his exultation. He was bruising on the side of his head from the butt of Flynn's gun but otherwise in great condition.

"He's going to be fine! He's going to be better than fine, Juliet. As a matter of fact, I tell you, he's going to walk right out that door in no time at all." Lucy was breathless as his joy was utterly infectious. She didn't know what to say other than, "Robert, I'm so happy for you." Beaming her own smile back.

"Oh! You wonderful woman!" Robert growled as he grabbed her around the waist, lifted her up and spun her around making Lucy squeal in surprise and laughter as she looked down at his face. History had already dramatically altered and there was nothing she could do about it now unless she was planning to kill the President herself and she certainly was not. Plus, this was such a nice moment to let herself get caught up in so Lucy let it take her away.

He slowed to a stand still but didn't let her down so she did the only thing any woman in her right mind would do in this situation. She leaned down and kissed President Abraham Lincoln's handsome son. And that man was a damn good kisser. Her fingers slid into his hair as he slowly let her slide down his body until her feet touched the ground and they both needed to take a breath. _This man is just knock-you-on-your-butt fantastic,_ Lucy mused, a little shocked by her complete disregard for eloquence. Didn't make it any less true though.

If Lucy didn't know any better she would say he'd fallen in love with her in one day. Screw the obvious Shakespeare reference, this was a chapter right out of a Harlequin Romance Novel. Lucy was a strong and independent modern 21st century woman but everyone had guilty pleasures and Robert Todd Lincoln just might be one of hers. It was too bad she would have to leave soon.

"You are amazing." Lucy blushed. "No, really, Juliet. If not for you, my father and General Grant would be dead now."

 _Wait, what?_ "Robert, no. I really didn't-"

"Your humbleness and modesty astounds. Juliet, I know you are not a prideful woman. That's one of the first wonderful things I learned about you. But I'll give credit where credit is due." Lucy could tell Wyatt, Rufus and the black Union troop were subtly moving closer to hear. "The way you startled the gunman so his first shot missed my father- that was incredible. And as if saving your President weren't enough, you dare to wrestle the heathen so his aim on the General even fails. Myself and Grant may have fought him to relent to the stage but you're the reason two good men are alive tonight."

"My father told me moments ago, Ms. Shakesman, that if I didn't marry you, I would be a mad man with no sense or reason that he should disown." Lucy laughed at what she thought was a joke but suddenly stopped when his even gaze held steady. _Okay, now I feel like I'm going to pass out. He can't be serious._

"I knew the moment I saw you in the theater that you were something special. It took a set of very specific circumstances to align to not only put us in each other's path twice but to also make everything else around it fall into place. I meant what I said about not believing in coincidences. Especially not in our case. I am of a firm mind that you and I are fate, Juliet. I'm not a man to take to his whims so when I ask you this, you should know that I mean it to its fullest devotion..." Lucy felt like she lost her ability to breath as his thumb stroked her cheek before he knelt down on one knee and drew out a ring. _Where the hell did he get that from so fast?!_ "Juliet Shakesman, with the blessing of my Mother's ring, will you marry me?" _Well that answers that._

They may have saved the other three men who Flynn newly targeted but Lincoln was never suppose to live. In her mind, their mission hadn't been a success. She'd lost her sister, she was apparently engaged to some guy in 2016 and there's another man she has to chase through time and try to stop the carnage he wants to create. Lincoln surviving could have thrown everything so far off that their world would be unrecognizable when they returned. And the man in front of her was one stone's throw away from a knight in shining armor. How are you suppose to say 'no' to a man like him? How are you suppose to say 'no' when there's a throng of people around waiting to hear your answer? How are you suppose to say 'no' when the man asking is the son of arguably the most popular and famous President of the United States of America? Lucy panicked. "Yes, I will marry you, Captain Robert Todd Lincoln," was her breathy reply as she gave him a smile. He quickly rose to his feet to kiss her again.

Rufus and Wyatt stood with their mouths open and looked wide-eyed at each other in alarm as whistles and cheers erupted from the previously silent eavesdropping crowd. A noise that grew to a thundering roar when President Lincoln, his arm bandaged and in a sling, walked out with his wife and First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln. Hats were thrown in the air. The celebration of their slave freeing Commander-in-Chief narrowly avoiding death and his soon to be married son with the heroine of the day.

"Lucy!" Wyatt hissed as the Presidential Carriage was being pulled forward and the doors opened for them. Lucy shrugged at him as if to say 'What do you want me to do?!'

"Uh, Ms. Shakesman, may I have a quick word?" Wyatt spoke up.

"Not just now, Soldier. Incase you missed it, this newly engaged woman is my fiancé and we are off to celebrate." Robert gave her that Million-watt smile of his and assisted her in. "I believe you men have revelries to get to yourselves. Congratulations on a war well fought and won!"

"Yes, Sir." Wyatt said through clenched teeth and backed away.

The carriage doors closed and Lucy sat next to Robert with his parents in the bench seat across from them. A very round, yet petite Mary Todd smiles at her. "How romantic. Do you like your ring, dear?" The giddiness fills this woman to the brim which surprises Lucy. She'd always thought of the First Lady as stoic in these years.

Lucy looks down at the ring she didn't remember putting on her finger. "I love it, Mrs. Lincoln. Thank you so much for allowing Robert to propose with it."

Mary sighed. "To think the two of you met just this morning and the winds of love and chance just wouldn't let you go. I simply don't know what I would do without my Abe." _Fall to pieces before finally ending up forcibly committed to a sanitarium in a decade because your children don't know what else to do._ But she didn't dare speak it aloud. "Thank heavens you were there, Juliet. What a wonderful daughter-in-law to have and such a beauty too! You and I are going to be such close confidants, I just know it."

Her prattling garnered a barely perceptible look of annoyance on the President's face and Lucy had to stop herself from bursting into laughter. It didn't escape her 'future Father-in-Law's attention. He gave her a glance that said 'It's our secret, hold it together'. And just like that, the panic and worry evaporate. Lucy Preston and President Abraham Lincoln had an inside joke and Lucy wanted to squeal so bad. _Suck it, Stanford Department of History! You can take your tenure and shove it up your-_

"Juliet?"

"Yes, Mrs. Lincoln?"

"Did you hear what I said?"

The President had a slight smile at the corner of his mouth. He was making fun of her. 'You've done it now' she could hear him say.

"No, Mrs. Lincoln. I'm so sorry." Considering how fanciful the First Lady seemed, Lucy needed to sell this to stay in her good graces. "I just can't believe how fortunate I am to find a man like Robert. I suppose it's all just so overwhelming. You raised such a miraculous son and I don't know what to do with myself when everything I've always wanted but never thought I would get walks right into my life." Mary gasps in response and fans her face trying not to cry.

Lucy looked to 'Honest Abe' for his opinion. A slight forward tick of his head is all she gets for a nod of approval.

She felt Robert turn more fully to look at her. _Uh-oh. Sold it too well_. He didn't say anything but sat there staring so Lucy finally turned to look back and was hit by a fact she hadn't realized before. Not that she would, but were she to stay, this man would lovingly stand by her for the rest of their lives and be everything a woman could ever want if she let him.

Even though life as Lincoln royalty would be one full of history she could see first hand, people she could meet and happiness with a pure and decent hard working man, there was something missing. It wasn't the era. She didn't need smartphones and snapchat to be content. The slower pace here and the customs are beautiful. The advancements thus far in 1865 suit her just fine (mostly). It was that she would get bored of all this goodness. If everything were perfect, it would be unsatisfying. If there were no challenges, if no one pushed her- how empty would the 'happiness' become?

Lucy was surprised when it dawned on her that she needed the grit. She needed the ugly and the undesirable, the unpredictable. And, even though it terrified her every time she got into that Lifeboat, she was getting a taste for the adventure. Even with all the fear. Even with the close calls. Lucy didn't want to let that go and she didn't want to stop fighting to save lives. She felt an uplifting and fulfilling sense of purpose for the first time in her life and Amy would be so proud.

As the carriage clopped onward, Mary remarked how good it would be to get home and out of these messy clothes. Then she happily held up the entire conversation talking about the new dresses she and 'Juliet' would get fitted for and...

 _Now, to come up with a plan of how to escape the family of Abraham Lincoln. Ya know, respectfully._

* * *

It was morning and Garcia was helping Anthony with getting the Mothership prepped when Karl walked in holding a newspaper that looked like it was made out of parchment. He was dressed in his modern clothes while the other two were already in their 60's garb.

"Flynn," the operative called. Garcia looked up, noticed Karl wasn't in his period appropriate attire.

"What are you doing? Get dressed. We're leaving for '62 Vegas soon."

"Lifeboat hasn't come back from 1865 yet."

"What are you talking about? Lucy was at her engagement party last night at her Mother's house." Garcia was still distracted with some of the couplings he was detaching from the outer rim on the bottom side.

"No, she didn't. The party started but Lucy Preston never showed up and eventually everyone left because no one could get ahold of her. I think they're about to call the police in."

"What?" Garcia rolled out from under the Mothership and felt a paper plop down on his stomach.

"The morning edition from D.C., April 15th, 1865." Karl informed.

"I don't need to read the news, I _was_ the news."

"You were _some_ of it."

Garcia huffed a breath of impatience and pulled the ancient paper in front of him. After skimming for a few lines, he found what Karl much have been talking about. There, drawn in black and white was an illustration of Robert Todd Lincoln on his knee in front of a stunned Lucy Preston, holding out a ring, surrounded by spectators. The headline for that section read 'Presidential First-Born to marry Ford Theater Heroine!' The following section was filled with the story about how Captain Robert Lincoln and actress Juliet Shakesman met and fell in love in one day followed by an evening of thrilling action where they fought side by side to disarm a gunman and save President Lincoln and General Grant.

" _The Groom-to-be describes his upcoming nuptials as fated_ " Garcia read out, irritation growing. " _The Lincoln family are rumored to be planning a ceremony that symbolizes the miraculous victories of this past year from the Union surmounting the Civil War until the stars aligned to lead to wedded bliss_. Jesus Christ, Lucy!" Garcia tossed the paper and the wrench he'd been working with across the room.

"Maybe she's really in love with the guy," Karl shrugged. Garcia pinned him with a glare. Anthony had bent down to pick up the discarded paper to read the rest with a small chuckle that Garcia ignores.

One thing about Karl that he both found useful and frustrating depending on the situation was that the man didn't really care about anything. Nothing got to him, nothing phased him and he just rolled with it all. Usually a convenient trait, especially in their current work. Now an annoying one.

"Man's father doesn't die, he's happy, woman that helped save him is there, he's already started courting her, takes it as a sign and pops the question. Not a stretch. Lucy stands there and feels like she can't turn him down because of how kind he's been and who he is. Also, not a stretch." Garcia drew it out, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"She's staying in the White House. You think Carlin and Logan will get her out?"

"On this one, I honestly don't know. Which means we won't be going to Vegas yet. We're going back to D.C. minus almost a hundred more years." Garcia got up to change clothes again.

"What's the plan, Boss?"

"I've got a Goddamn Historian to kidnap."

 **To Be Continued...**


	5. Chapter 5

"Dude." Rufus slumped his shoulders. Exhaustion had fully set in and his brain was beginning to shut down.

"What?"

"We've been at this all night."

"So, what? You wanna just give up? Leave her here?!" Being awake for so long had started frying Wyatt's nerves as well. Right now, he was beyond irritable and stress was taking its tole.

"That's not what I said." Rufus stood firm. "Look, if we don't get something to eat and some sleep, we are no good to Lucy. Not to mention we need to sterilize and redress that gun shot I patched up. We need an actual plan and I don't know about you but my cognitive abilities are useless right now and that's saying something."

Wyatt signed in resignation. "I know. I'm sorry." He rubbed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. Beyond the 'sweat and loneliness' that these civil war reenactment costumes started out smelling like, they now also reeked with the exertion of the last 30 hours. "Alright, let's get back to the hotel. We can see about finding other clothes later and come up with a plan after we recharge."

Rufus knew Wyatt felt like a failure. Honestly, so did he. Lucy shouldn't have accepted Robert Lincoln's proposal but he could understand how the situation had made her feel cornered. He'd been in a number of those himself so he couldn't completely hold her at fault. These missions pushed you to the very edges of your sanity and physical limits and they were only on their second one.

They had spent the rest of last night and on into this morning prowling the edges of the White House property with no luck of finding an opening. Apparently, Secret Service had learned from their mistake at the theater and amped up security. Especially with the attempted assassin still at large. They had tried volunteering for the detail since the President's staff were taking on soldiers but it was by recommendation only and none of the higher ups knew who they were.

They'd come across a paper just an hour ago that spoke about Lucy's upcoming wedding and it had sent Wyatt into a desperation that wasn't helpful what so ever. Rufus was also concerned about one facet the story had mentioned in particular. There would be photographers at the residence tomorrow afternoon to get portraits of the entire Lincoln family and their new addition, Juliet. They would also be taking a shot of the whole group together and one of the two betrothed. It was one thing to have a cartoon-like drawing of Lucy in a national paper that could look like a number of people, but to have actual photos taken? They would be in every paper in the country by the time the month was out. One thing they desperately needed to avoid at this point was just that. Mention of these events would already be in history books when they got back. Lucy's picture did not need to be added into the mix.

The men walked back to the hotel and set to regroup. Later today, they would come up with a way to get Lucy out. They had to. They would have all night and until the following afternoon to try and either break into the White House or catch her when she was out somewhere with Robert.

* * *

Lucy woke up early the next morning to a maid coming in and opening the curtains in her stately room. Last night had been such a jumble. She had informed the house staff that there was no need for anyone to go to her hotel room at the National to get her things because she didn't have very much anyway and they weren't things she would wish to keep. Mrs. Lincoln, who had insisted Lucy call her Mary, was helpful in this. She said that of course Juliet was right. Nicer things would be provided and there would be no use for anything from before unless it held sentimental value.

Mary was a source of confusion for Lucy until the commotion had relented. The older woman had been so bubbly about her son's engagement and didn't seem to slow down but when they arrived at the White House and there was nothing more to focus on, her mood swung drastically the other way before she was ushered to her private rooms by her husband. Lucy expected Mary to be depressed since accounts of the time made claims to her constant despair at the loss of son Willie Lincoln just a few years before. A now 12 year old Tad Lincoln would also die but not until 1871 at age 18 of Tuberculosis. Coupled with Willie, Abraham and even an earlier son Edward's deaths, Mary had understandably been inconsolable to the point that Robert, the only surviving relative, felt he had no choice but to place her in a sanitarium.

The loss of her husband and three of her four children was reason for any woman to give up. She had lost two of her boys already. She fortunately had not lost her husband but that didn't mean she was okay. Lucy now understood that Mary had Bipolar Disorder and possibly Manic Depression. It would make her seem erratic at best. Robert had made his polite excuses for his mother but Lucy knew what she had seen. He told her that she would be meeting Thomas whom they affectionately called 'Tad' tomorrow morning. The boy had already gone to sleep after receiving word that his mother and father were alright. But she wasn't keen on meeting a child she knew would die in six years time.

The light came streaming in through the windows and the entire room looked glorious. It didn't do a lot to improve Lucy's mood but again, focusing on details would keep her occupied. The maid busied herself with helping Lucy out of bed and another maid brought in fresh linens and begun boiling water so that Lucy could take another bath. The residence had water piped in in 1833 but it still needed to be heated with the exception of a second floor bathroom down the hall that did have hot running water. Lucy'd been assisted with a bath last night. She didn't appreciate someone else undressing her and washing her but it was made clear that she shouldn't argue.

Before long, she was dried off and her hair was being attended to while a seamstress was making adjustments to a dress and taking all Lucy's measurements to make an entire new wardrobe that apparently Mary had ordered. One particular dress had to be ready by midday tomorrow for a photography session that Lucy was dreading. The last thing she needed was for her face to be splashed all over the papers and therefore History books. She needed to find a way out and soon. Preferably, she wanted to figure out a way to do it so it didn't look like she had just ran off and jilted the son of President Lincoln but beggars couldn't be choosers and saving face was doubtfully an option.

The dress that was taken in fit pretty well aside from the obvious discomfort caused by the corset. The ladies here were not as gentle as Jiya had been and certainly not as forgiving even with her slight figure. It was beautiful though. Lucy had to give it that. It was definitely the kind of dress that the soon-to-be bride of a Lincoln should wear. She wished she had her phone so she could take a quick selfie in a mirror after her hair had been done to complete the effect. Agent Christopher had wisely poo pooed the idea even before it was brought up knowing they may want to take pictures. All a part of her 'no modern objects' policy. It was too bad, really. Lucy may not still have this one when she returned.

There were several updates that had yet to be made to the White House but it was still quite grand. The running water was impressive for the time as was the central heating system. Andrew Jackson had been a busy man. Then there was the gas lighting which replaced the candles and oil lamps. There were beautiful aesthetic embellishments in the 1860's as well that had been dressed down in modern times due to the appeal of modest style in later years. It was a shame that so much of its Victorian opulence would disappear. The White House in 2016 still looked amazing of course but it was missing a lot of the details that craftsman in this era put such painstaking work into.

Robert soon came to collect her, giving her an appropriate chaste kiss on the cheek good morning with one of his signature bright smiles. Edward had died before Robert turned 7 so the death of his younger brother hadn't lingered. William, or 'Willie' had passed when Robert was 18 so Lucy could guess that stayed with him a bit more though he seemed to have healed well since. He walked her down to breakfast where she did indeed meet the youngest Lincoln, Tad. He was small for his age but with a proportionally larger head. Tad was polite but it was obvious he was the baby. He was very spoiled and seemed to have run of the place. He had a tutor of sorts but did not yet attend actual school and he didn't seem to have much care for tradition or ceremony.

"So, Juliet, I was thinking. On the matter of your family no longer being with us as you informed me last night. Again, I am deeply sorry to hear that, Dear. I know all too well-" Mary stopped and stared into space before her husband picked up for her.

"And since you mentioned you wouldn't want your friends to travel all the way here for the wedding, we didn't see any reason to prolong the engagement. There are several rites and obligations that take time to accomplish before vows are exchanged that simply do not apply to our present circumstances. Though you're living here with our family and properly chaperoned, I would feel it undignified to hold this pattern for longer than necessary. Do you agree?"

"Yes, Mr. President." Lucy answered noting that Mary was still silent and staring.

He chuckled a bit. "That's good to hear. And you may call me Mr. Lincoln for now. You'll be calling me 'father' in a fortnight or so."

"A fortnight?"

"Yes, two weeks should be suitable enough a wait for the wedding, I assume?"

"Yes, Father. That will be more than enough time for Juliet and I," Robert answered for her. "After all, we don't seem to be able to wait when it comes to the two of us." He was smiling at her and she would normally take it as romantic but in this case it wasn't appreciated. Lucy smiled back anyway and continued eating.

"Just so long as the things that aught to wait, do." Mary had rejoined the conversation and Lucy nearly choked on her food knowing exactly what was being eluded to.

"Of course, Mother. I wouldn't dream of anything else."

 _Yeah, right._ Lucy barely held back a snort.

The rest of the day passed by with so much pomp and circumstance. There seemed no end to the list of things to get done to ready Lucy for becoming a member of the Presidential family. It kept Mary Todd focused and blissful for now. There was no time or opportunity to sneak away nor did they ever leave the house itself except for when Robert took her for a turn about the greenhouse. Before she knew it, she was deposited back in her room and being helped out of her dress and into a nightgown.

There were two guards posted at her windows, another at her door as well as God knows how many others throughout the house and property. She'd seen dozens if not a hundred. Posted at every entry, egress and interspersed every so often otherwise. You couldn't walk ten feet without running into another one. Some were employed by the White House directly. Others were soldiers. She'd kept a look out thinking Wyatt and Rufus would surely sneak into their ranks but she hadn't seen a sign of either one. She even paid attention to the house and kitchen staff thinking maybe Rufus had snuck in as a servant. That turned out to be a bust as well.

Without a way of sneaking out tonight, she would have to convince Robert to take her somewhere tomorrow morning and give him the slip. With any luck, she would see one or both of the boys following and could meet up with them. If not, Lucy would just make it back to the Lifeboat on her own and hope they heard the news of her being missing so they'd head back as well. And with that, she drifted off to sleep her last night in the White House.

* * *

Rufus was putting on his newly stolen trousers and shirt. It was morning and he and Wyatt had spent the remainder of yesterday, after sleeping for a few hours, planning their next move. They would continue to test the perimeter this morning to see if they could find a way in. If not, they would intercept the photographer and trash his equipment so they'd have more time. Both hoped that Lucy would find her way out though. That would be ideal.

There was a bit of a commotion outside that grabbed both their attention. It was still pretty early so they weren't sure what could have happened. Upon reaching the front desk, Wyatt asked what all the noise was about.

"The tall, dark haired gunman struck again!" The man told him. "The very same man who tried to kill President Lincoln just two nights ago got his revenge last night. He was seen taking off from the White House with that Ms. Shakesman over his shoulder. Guess he didn't like the little lady stopping his plans."

"What?!"

"I can't believe it either, son. With all those men they had guardin' the place."

"How did they see him and not stop him?!"

"No need to yell, boy. I don't now. I heard he knocked a bunch of 'em out. Musta had more'n twenty men with him to do it but nobody saw anyone but him."

Wyatt couldn't believe what he was hearing. Garcia Flynn had taken Lucy? For a moment he feared that she had been killed but Flynn wouldn't have taken her with him if that were all he wanted to do.

"Don't know why he didn't just go after the President while he was there. Not that I would want that. Plum glad he didn't. Just sayin's all."

"When was this?" Wyatt demanded.

"Well, uh, men have been lookin' for her near four hours now. I suspect just past midnight."

Wyatt ran out of the Hotel and spotted Rufus waiting. "He took her!"

"I know. Someone just told me. You don't think he'd hurt her, do you?"

"I don't know but we're not going to find out anything by staying here. He has hours on us so he could be anywhere. We need to get home."

Rufus understood. Flynn probably wouldn't have stayed in 1865 once he had Lucy. There was no reason to that he could think of. So the only way for them to find her would be to get back to Mason Industries in 2016 and find out when the Mothership was. Jiya was working on a way to triangulate its location but as far as Rufus knew, she hadn't gotten there yet. He only hoped they could track Lucy down before it was too late.

 **To Be Continued...**


	6. Chapter 6

_"I want him to be happy." Lucy was on Flynn's bed._

 _"Of course you do. You're a good person." Garcia was lounging in the chair across from her, watching as she laid on her stomach, chin propped on her arms. The vodka had its lid screwed on and she was toying with the neck of the bottle. She'd switched to water but was still decently drunk._

 _"I mean, your wife comes back from the dead, you go be with her. That's the obvious choice for anyone." She was trying to make everything seem okay. The conversation hadn't included Wyatt until just now. "He doesn't owe me anything and it's not like we were in a serious relationship." She slurred her words but not too terribly._

 _"It's understandable, yes. What's also understandable is how much it hurt you. Just because you can excuse his actions doesn't mean it still isn't a terrible thing for_ you _to go through. Never mind that he went ahead with a relationship with you in the first place when he knew it was possible for Jessica to come back."_

 _"What about you?" She asked._

 _"What about me?"_

 _"You're just going to be alone forever unless you get your wife back?"_

 _"I told you, Lucy. I won't be staying with my family once I save them. I'm not even close to the same man they knew. My mind won't change on that. And even though I still love Lorena very much, I'm not_ in _love with her anymore."_

 _Lucy just looked at him and huffed an exasperated breath. She was trying to prove a point and he wasn't helping. She wasn't sure if she was glad for that or not. In a way, it made her feel better. That her hurt and anger was justified. But it also made her feel worse that it made it real. The more she thought of the unfairness of it all, the more it upset her and it felt like she was drowning. But then, talking things out with Flynn had helped immensely tonight. It didn't matter what it was, he just understood everything she was saying. He was nothing but supportive and kind._

 _She'd been trying to keep her distance from him but her comfort in his presence grew more and more to the point that she didn't want distance between them. As a matter of fact, she wanted to be with him nearly all the time. Him being there made her feel like she had someone who had her back One Hundred percent. She didn't need to talk, didn't need to act a certain way. He was there in whatever capacity she needed. So, she decided to be supportive in return._

 _"You shouldn't be alone, Flynn."_

 _"Oh, yeah?" He was amused._

 _"You're a good man and you're not bad looking. Women will be falling all over themselves if and when you decide you're ready."_

 _Garcia looked at her with a pensive expression. "I don't know. Maybe I'll decide I'm ready and the one woman I want, doesn't want me. Or she doesn't want me enough over someone else."_

 _"Pssh. Whatever. Not possible. As long as you keep your homicidal tendencies in check, any woman would be lucky to have you." Lucy laughed a little at her assessment. "I mean, look at you! You're a tall, dark and handsome tree of a man!" More giggles._

 _"What exactly does it mean to be a 'tree of a man'?" He was teasing her but she didn't care._

 _"Ya know. Big and tall. Muscles. That broad, strong warrior thing. Lasting and useful..." She became serious for a moment. "Beautiful in the sunlight and sometimes terrifying as a silhouette in the dark. Sometimes your leaves fall off but you can always grow them back. With enough sun."_

 _They locked eyes and the silence held for several moments until Lucy couldn't stand it._

 _"I don't know what I'm saying," she shrugged off. "And I'm getting tired. Come to bed."_

 _"I can go sleep on the couch." He stood up and moved to leave._

 _"Garcia. Flynn. I am not letting you try to sleep with most of your body hanging off that couch. Get over here."_

 _He looked at her, confused._

 _"We're both adults. It'll be tight but we can manage." She stood up, wobbling a little off balance and gestured for him to get on the bed, closest to the wall. He was about to argue but she stopped him. "Now."_

 _He appeared uncertain but he reluctantly did as she commanded. When he was over as far as he could go which still made him take up most of the bed, she climbed back in and covered them up, snuggling into his side. She didn't even make a peep when his arm came around her so it wasn't in her way. He was so warm and comfortable. She knew if she were sober that she probably wouldn't be doing this but it just felt too good for her to care. She could deal with whatever tomorrow. For now, she was just so tired..._

Lucy could feel herself stirring awake. It was very slow and gradual. That space between dreams and full consciousness could sometimes take several minutes to transpire. That state where your dream still feels real and you can remember it all but you know you're laying down. The visions you had at night still cling. No matter how ridiculous they may have been, they make sense and nothing is wrong.

She was cuddled into something warm. Something decidedly male. Her hand was on a bare chest and as she breathed in the amazing smell of him, she started very lightly rubbing the hair on his chest. She could feel his hand on her back, rubbing it in a way she hadn't known she liked before. His skin felt so good where she met it with her hand and the side of her face. The rest seemed to be separated by clothes. She could hear his strong heartbeat through his chest and her head rose and fell with his breaths. Breaths that she matched with her own. She felt so connected with this man. Like one being.

"I'm sorry," Lucy mumbled.

"For what?" She heard back.

"Don't take this the wrong way but, I just think it's kind of insane that of all the people here, you're the easiest to talk to. Next time I won't bring vodka." She didn't really know what she was saying exactly. It came out sort of garbled but it seemed to fit with the conversation that was slowly slipping from her memory.

The man she was half laying on jerked and stiffened so she opened her eyes and looked up at him. Her eyes were droopy but she could see how handsome he was and she felt like she knew him. The sunlight played on his face and she stared. Her mind couldn't quite draw any conclusions. She was a little blank. Reality was taking its time sinking in. But the alarmed look on this man's face was helping her wake up more.

"What did you just say?" He put a hand to the side of her face and was trying to get her to focus on his eyes. "Lucy, do you remember? How-"

"What?" The warning bells were going off in her head as her heart rate kicked up.

Flynn. Garcia Flynn. The terrorist. This was the man who stole a time machine and was killing people!

Lucy jerked back and scrambled out of his arms. Nothing made sense. She was in what looked like a hotel room. He was on a large bed with pants but no shirt. She looked down and found she was still wearing the nightgown from the night before.

Blinking several times and trying to catch her breath wasn't doing much. "What have you done?! Where am I? Why were we-? What did you-?" Her thoughts were all over the place. She didn't know which one to attack first.

When she refocused her eyes, he was closing in on her. Before she could back away and run, he had a grip on both her upper arms. "What did you just say, Lucy?"

She tried shoving him away but he was like a brick wall and there was no getting out of his hold. "Let go of me!" She was twisting and turning, trying anything she could to get away from him but it wasn't working.

"Lucy, stop. Settle down. I'm not going to hurt you." He put both his arms around her, locking hers at her sides. "Easy. Easy. It's okay. You're alright. It's just me."

"I know who the hell you are! And you're not _just_ anyone!" Flynn was making shushing sounds, holding her with steady pressure but not enough to be painful. He wasn't letting up and without her consent, she could feel her breathing getting back under control and her body calming even if her mind wasn't. There was something she'd read once about tight pressure calming mammals. It was working.

"That's right," Flynn was saying. "Calm down. Just breathe."

She still tried pushing against him with her palms to his sides. It was the only place on him she could reach with her arms pinned. It was a pitiful effort and she succeeded at nothing but gripping his waistband in the end. Her head slumped into the front of his shoulder and she continued taking slower and deepening breaths. She wanted to stay fierce and fight with every single animalistic bone in her body but it was like all that was being drained from her.

"Easy," Flynn repeated. "Easy." His voice got soft and one hand started rubbing her back as she huffed out the last of her panic.

With her forehead pressed to his chest and her voice muffled she asked, "What's going on?"

"You're safe. I won't hurt you. I got you out of the White House last night. We're in present day now."

Lucy took more slow, steady breaths. "How did I sleep through all of that?"

"I... I may have drugged you a little."

"What?!" She stiffened again and started another attempt at pushing away but gave up mid-try. She groaned her frustration and focused on her breathing for a moment. Her hands were resting on his hips and even though she hated how sexual it seemed, it was the only comfortable position.

"Why did you drug me?" Lucy went for a short obvious question. One thing at a time.

"I didn't want to have to fight you _and_ the men guarding you."

 _That makes sense_ , she thought.

"Where are we?"

"Outskirts of San Fransisco."

"Why did you take me?"

He leaned his head back enough to get her to look up at him. There was a humorous look on his face. "Couldn't exactly let you get your face all over the history books by marrying Robert Todd Lincoln now, could I?"

Lucy shot daggers at him with her eyes. "What the hell do you care about history books? You're already doing your best to obliterate it all."

Flynn's face became serious yet soft. "What is it you said when you woke up, Lucy?" So tender and gentle.

"I don't remember." And that was the truth. She didn't. "Something about vodka. I don't know."

"What were you dreaming about?" Still gentle.

"I don't remember, okay?" The more Lucy tried to grab onto it, the more it sifted out of her hands like sand. The harder she gripped, the faster it fled. It was useless now. Whatever she had seen or heard while asleep was gone.

He looked back and forth between her eyes and eventually nodded. "Okay."

"Could you let me go now?"

"Are you going to act like an adult and use your words?" He shot back. Lucy's responding glare had him chuckling. "Okay, okay."

Lucy tried to step far away from him once his arms let her go but she ended up backing into a wall and still being only one foot from him. "Would you mind putting a shirt on?"

"I was getting the impression you liked me without one," he teased.

"What in the world would give you that impression?"

"You see this little swirled patch of hair here?" He pointed to a spot on his left pec. "That's where you were drawing circles with your fingertips. And here?" He pointed to the other side of his chest. "This is where you were laying your head, smelling me. Even sighing a little."

"You wish. And why did you have me on that bed anyway?"

"Hey, it's a King size bed, Professor. I put you on one side and went to sleep on the other. It's not my fault you decided to creep over to my side and molest me in my sleep."

Lucy's mouth came open as she scoffed. "I- oh, for the love of God! I am _not_ doing this!"

"Doing what?"

"Having this childish argument with you."

"It's not childish. If anything, what you were doing was _very_ grown up."

Lucy narrowed her eyes at him and side stepped to get out from between him and the wall. She'd had enough of being crowded by this man. She didn't understand this dynamic they had between them. She didn't understand why he was so comfortable with her and teased her like they were on good terms or like they knew one another better than what they did. And she definitely didn't understand why it was making her cheeks heat up. That was completely inappropriate and uncalled for.

"Are Rufus and Wyatt okay?" She looked away from him.

"As far as I know. If they're not, it's not because of anything I did."

"What do you want with me? Why am I here?"

He took a big breath and exhaled before walking to the opposite side of the room and gathering up his shirt. One arm through and then the other and started with the buttons. "Well, I didn't want to just dump you somewhere while you were still passed out."

"So I can leave now then?"

"Eh. Not yet. I would let you go but this next trip I'm taking-"

"I'm not going with you," Lucy interrupted.

"I don't want you to. Actually, I don't want you going there at all. Not with Rufus and Wyatt either. I know I could get what I'm after even if you did but it would go a lot smoother if you didn't. Without you, those two will have no clue what or who they're looking for. Plus, there's really nothing for you on that trip."

Lucy shook her head in confusion. "What are you talking about? Nothing for me?"

"Never mind. It's not important." He shrugged, having buttoned up his shirt and slipped into his shoes.

"What is it you're after?"

Flynn stood and walked over to her again. He watched her face closely for her reaction to what he said next. "A little thing called a Plutonium core. It's part of a nuclear bomb."

Lucy's eyes rounded in horror. "You're going to get a nuclear bomb?"

"Part of one. The most important part... Tell me, what is it you think I'll do with it, Lucy?" He stepped closer.

"I don't know. I don't know what you'd be willing to do at this point. I mean, you tried to kill Abraham Lincoln so-"

"Did I?" He waited. She wasn't sure what he meant. "Did I really try to kill him? Do you really think," he closed in on her, "that I'm that bad of a shot?" Her brow furrowed. "I should have. It would have kept your precious history intact, wouldn't it? You wouldn't have gotten engaged and forced me to come back for you. It would have saved me a lot of damn time to just blow that man's brains out." He was in her face now.

"Then why didn't you?" Lucy stood her ground.

Flynn just looked at her. He didn't seem to have an answer. Or if he did, he didn't want to tell her what it was. The two of them stared at one another, not moving. She didn't know what to expect and it was starting to make Lucy on comfortable. But then he walked away and grabbed his phone and started texting someone.

"I have a guy here that will let you out later tonight. There's food in the mini fridge. I wouldn't try to get out, it's a straight drop from the window and we're seven floors up." He took a breath and looked around like he was trying not to forget anything. "You could scream, I suppose, but this is the top floor in an abandoned building so you'll just make yourself hoarse."

He got a text back and started for the door. "Oh, and if James Bond asks you to marry him, save us both some trouble and just say 'no'."

"James Bond?"

"It'll make sense eventually." He opened the door and walked out. There was another man in the hall who grabbed the handle to shut it behind him. Before Lucy could make it, he'd slammed and bolted it from the outside. She was stuck.

 **To Be Continued...**


	7. Chapter 7

"Where's Lucy? And what took you so long?" Agent Christopher was on them from the moment they came out of the Lifeboat. Wyatt still needed to see a proper Doctor and Rufus desperately wanted a long, hot shower.

"Where's the Mothership? Or, rather, _when_ is the Mothership?" Rufus was more concerned with Agent Christopher's first question.

"I have an answer for both of those, actually." Jiya popped her head up from her desktop. "Present day. In a fifty square mile radius of San Fransisco. I'm guessing not in the ocean or the bay though so that narrows it down."

"I need to know what happened because Flynn was in 1865, then jumped back here for several hours before jumping _back_ to 1865 and returning again around 2am. What? Did he forget something? And where's Lucy?" The Homeland Security Agent asked for the Historian a second time.

"He traveled _back_ to 1865? He'd come back to the present and then made a second trip to D.C.?" Rufus looked to Wyatt.

"There were so many other chances to kidnap her, easier chances too. Why wait until she was surrounded by Secret Service?" The boys were talking amongst themselves.

"Hey! Someone better start answering my damn questions or things are going to get incredibly unpleasant around here." Christopher was loosing her already non-existent patience.

Rufus sighed before Wyatt began explaining. "Lucy saved President Lincoln, got herself engaged to Robert Todd Lincoln and then got kidnapped by Flynn from the White House before we could get to her."

"Hold on. Are you telling me Lucy was Juliet Shakesman?" As it turned out, Agent Christopher in this new timeline had idolized women like 'Juliet' since she was a child. Brave women who did the impossible and were trail blazers for future generations. A name that Lucy had made up on the spot was now one ingrained in the minds of historians and anyone else who'd read anything about that night at Ford's Theater.

The team all gathered around a computer while Wyatt was being checked out by a medic and Connor read out the new history. "President Abraham Lincoln was shot in the arm by a tall unknown gunman, using an unknown gun on April the 14th, 1865. The assassination attempt was thwarted by an obscure actress, Juliet Shakesman, Robert Todd Lincoln's fiancé who was kidnapped days later by the same gunman and never seen again."

"So if Lucy hadn't been Juliet, President Lincoln would have died?"

"That's the history we remember." Rufus answered Christopher. "When we went back, it was 'The Lincoln Assassination'. Not an attempt. A guy named John Wilkes Booth was the one who originally did it but then Flynn somehow took his place. Lucy was going to preserve how it happened and not do anything except save General Grant who wasn't suppose to be there in the first place but then she changed her mind." He remembered how happy the black soldiers had been that the President who freed them was saved. "How much sooner did all the civil rights for black people come about?" Connor pulled up a brief time table of all the major milestones in the movement and Rufus looked over his shoulder.

"What were they before?" Connor asked.

"Wait, that's not right. Lincoln was saved so all this should have been earlier. Didn't he do anything else for us after he survived?"

Agent Christopher answered him. "No, I'm afraid not. There's been speculation that Lincoln only signed the Emancipation Proclamation to weaken the South during the Civil War. He was part of the National Union Party which was another term for Republican. Historically speaking, Republicans were consistently on the right side of Race politics. They backed the Proclamation and movements like Civil Rights while Democrats tried to undermine most of the efforts. They don't tend to teach that in schools though. I'm voting for Hilary Clinton next month but that's only because Gary Johnson doesn't have a hope of winning and the other option is horrific." Everyone looked at her like she'd grown a second head. "What? I do know _some_ history."

"Republicans fought for equality? Was that something we changed?" Rufus asked Wyatt.

"No, actually that's the same. Christopher's right."

"Anyway," she continued, "Lincoln did get reelected for a second term but he only lived two years into it. They say it was consumption but it was probably cancer or some other wasting disease. He was showing signs of it in his first term. Presidency noticeably ages people but the changes he had were extremely rapid even for the position. So who knows if he would have gone on to do more for African Americans."

Rufus looked defeated. All the soldiers he met that had thought their future was so bright just had to go through the same things they did before. Lucy saving Lincoln hadn't made much of an impact at all.

"I've read the accounts but did Lucy seriously get Robert Todd Lincoln to fall in love and propose to her in less than 24 hours?" Agent Christopher was still reeling from finding out that Lucy was a famous historical heroine.

"Yep," Rufus answered. "We were standing there when he proposed. I don't think Lucy really knew what else to do. She was just as shocked by it as we were and it all happened so fast. She'd gone to the theater mailboxes that morning to find Booth and ran into Robert. Then she saw him again later at the train station and that's when he asked her to the play. Her saving his Dad made him think they were meant to be or something. Have to admit, that proposal was pretty good."

"Whatever," Wyatt charged forward. "So they took her to the White House and we tried getting in to sneak her out but it was impossible. The place was like a fortress. How did Flynn even get her? That's what I wanna know. And what's he want her for? Leverage?"

Christopher shrugged and shook her head. "I have no idea. We haven't received any threats or demands. And it's not like we can't get another Historian. I'm not sure why he would want or need her. He already has Anthony Bruhl so he doesn't need another hostage. And going back to 1865 to get her?" She trailed off not knowing what to make of it all any more than the rest of them.

Wyatt was the first to break the silence. "Lucy asked you after we got back from the Hindenburg, why you chose her. She said Flynn told her to ask. Is she more important in all of this than we know?"

"She came highly recommended by my superiors. Her profile suggested that she would be very receptive to something extremely unorthodox like time travel so that's who we went with. There really wasn't anyone else that was deemed a good candidate."

"That's all they gave you?" Rufus asked the agent.

"Look, I wish I had more but that's all I know. For now we just need to hook the Lifeboat up to charge, get another Historian lined up and be ready for Flynn's next move."

"Whoa," Wyatt jumped up, scaring the medic that was still trying to fix Rufus' handy work. "We're not replacing Lucy."

"Until we can find her and figure out a way to get her back, that is if she's still alive, you two need a guide. There still needs to be a historical and anthropological expert on the team. That hasn't changed."

Rufus and Wyatt were both frustrated. They knew she was right but they hated that they had no idea how to find or save their teammate. None of them knew the other two well but they'd come to depend on one another and bond a little. There was something very unifying about traveling through time and risking your lives together.

After a more detailed discussion of events, Wyatt and Rufus left to go home and get some rest and Agent Christopher set out to find a viable option for the third seat in the Lifeboat should they need to go after Flynn before they found Lucy. Fortunately, she found a replacement quickly because that afternoon the alarm went off notifying them that the Mothership had taken off again.

September 21st, 1962. Somewhere in or around Vegas. The Professor from Princeton they'd gotten wasn't a lot of help aside from mentioning that JFK was there at the time. Having the third member be a guy didn't feel right to Rufus or Wyatt but anyone aside from Lucy would have felt wrong. But they took off and hoped Flynn would have Lucy with him and that they could somehow rescue her.

* * *

Garcia was slightly amused at the 'time team' running around like chickens with their heads cut off. The new historian they had with them seemed useless and since Anthony wasn't having a moral dilemma this time around he never mentioned the Plutonium Core to Rufus by its other nickname nor did the two ever run into each other at all. Judith Campbell had informed him that the third man with Rufus and Wyatt had made a comment about how she wasn't 'significant' so that meant they never even recognized what Garcia could possibly want with her. He knew things would go smoother without Lucy with them but this was laughably easy.

When he returned, Lucy will have been released and she'd be back at Mason Industries awaiting the guys' return. That meant she would be back with them when they followed to Nazi Germany. Things would be back on track, or so he hoped.

Something that was way off track was what Lucy had uttered when she woke up with him. It had been the same words that she'd used the morning after she'd woken up in his room in the Bunker in the other timeline. And she had then mentioned the vodka. It had presented like the remnants of a dream but how would she even have such a dream? Garcia then remembered the feeling when she'd been touching him, still half asleep. There'd been this buzz of electricity, a connection. That's when it hit him: the sensation had been similar to what he felt when his younger self had touched him! Except that Lucy wasn't him so it hadn't threatened her like the Garcia Flynn from 2012. Did the younger him also have visions of the future before he died?

Could it really be possible? That her touching the skin of a man from her future while on a different plane of consciousness had given her insight into a timeline only he remembered? Whatever she had seen had disappeared with her becoming more alert but that didn't erase the fact that it had seeped into her somehow. For a brief moment, he heard the words of a Lucy that had known and cared for him. She would get there in this timeline too but in the meantime, it made Garcia's heart ache. He missed the way she use to look at him. She'd grown to trust him beyond what he thought possible and now she looked at him with confusion at the very best. And there were still threats and scare tactics to launch her way.

He took a fortifying breath and released it with difficulty. Some aspects of all this were easier but some were infinitely worse. There were bigger changes he would make later but for now, a lot of the things he needed to keep the same made him cringe.

It was probably best not to let Lucy touch him anymore for a while if it meant her learning things she shouldn't know yet. There didn't seem to be any transfer while she was awake when he'd firmly held her to make her calm down but best not to take chances if he didn't need to.

Judith Campbell then returned to the car after getting the keys he needed from General Milano. Now on to getting the ingredients for his 300 year time machine battery...

* * *

Lucy sat in the glass conference room at Mason Industries. She'd been released just as Flynn told her she would be. He was also right about there being no escape from the room she was held in but at least her stay was a comfortable one. She'd taken a hot shower and changed into women's clothes she found in the dresser. Just her size of course. A fact she found a bit creepy.

Even though the room had been set up like a hotel room, it was indeed in an abandoned building. She wasn't sure why it was there or how Flynn had found it much less got in all the amenities but it was a nice way to return from the 1800's. The shower was heavenly and the modern clothes were a lot less itchy. He'd even pegged her style pretty well which only served to frustrate her.

"Lucy, good. I was told you were unharmed. Are you alright?" Agent Christopher walked in.

"I'm fine. Mason says the guys are in '62? Vegas?" She got a nod.

"Any idea what he's doing there?"

Lucy didn't need any historical knowledge to know the answer to this one. And she believed Flynn had told her the truth, just like she believed he was telling the truth about not having done anything to her while she was knocked out. Plus, with the location Mason told her the guys traveled to, the answer Flynn had given her now made complete sense. "The core of a nuclear bomb."

Agent Christopher froze. "Flynn's going after a nuke?" Lucy nodded. "How do you know?"

"He told me."

"Why would he-"

"I don't know."

Christopher seemed to mull this over. "Lucy," she began delicately. "Did anything happen while you were with him?"

At first, Lucy was confused but then the tone used finally gave away what was being asked. "Oh. No. Nothing like that. He didn't- uh, he didn't do anything like that. I'm fine. He doesn't have much regard for my personal space but I don't believe he's the sort of man who would do that to a woman."

"He killed his wife and daughter, Lucy. I think it's safe to say we don't know what kind of man he is or how far he would take anything."

Lucy didn't give a response to that.

"Did he tell you anything else? Like why he went back to 1865 to get you or why he had you held for a day?"

Lucy didn't want to say too much. She hadn't told anyone about the journal he had that was supposedly hers and she wasn't going to. She also didn't think it was wise to tell anyone here, including Rufus and Wyatt when they got back, how familiar he was with her. How would they react if they knew how tender he could be? It wouldn't do anything to help them trust her if they knew there was some connection between her and the villain they were chasing through time. He'd spoken cryptically and his actions confounded her but the one thing that came across loud and clear was that she meant something to him. He'd said as much and his actions backed it up. He regarded her with care even when his words hinted at danger. Somehow she knew she wasn't at risk of getting harmed by him.

 _"Lucy, stop. Settle down. I'm not going to hurt you. Easy, easy. It's okay. You're alright. It's just me," He'd said._

 _It's just me..._ Like he was someone she should be comfortable with. Someone she should feel safe with. Someone she was close to. No, she definitely could not tell Agent Christopher any of that.

"He just said that he didn't want me messing up history any more than I already had with Robert Lincoln and he didn't want me going with Wyatt and Rufus on this trip." A thought occurred to her. "What happened to Robert? He still became a lawyer, right? And had three kids? What about his father?"

Christopher took out her phone and started googling. "Robert Todd Lincoln... He did become a lawyer, yes, but he never married or had children. He spent years and quite a lot of money trying to find you. He offered rewards for any information. Even offered money and immunity to the 'gunman' who took you if he would just insure your safe return. Lincoln only lived two more years. Documented as Consumption." She looked at Lucy with regret. "For what it's worth, I think it's great that you saved President Lincoln. And you became an inspiration to women everywhere. Including me."

"That's just it. I didn't save the President. People think I did but the truth is that Flynn shot him in the arm on purpose. He didn't miss."

"Why would he do that? It didn't accomplish anything. Wyatt and Rufus said nothing changed significantly. Were they wrong?"

"I'd have to look, study over some materials as they exist now but no, I don't think they were wrong. Flynn never gave me an answer as to why he did it. He just told me he should have killed him."

Lucy could tell Agent Christopher had more questions but decided to hold them for later. There was also an air of suspicion. She found it just as odd as Lucy did that this terrorist would kidnap her and not harm her whatsoever. Even go so far as to have a conversation with her where he revealed things like going after a nuclear bomb. Afterwards he'd released her safely back to the people who had hired her to take him down.

"Alright, well, with any luck the boys will figure it out and stop Flynn from getting the nuke. I can give you a call once they come back or you can wait here if you'd like."

"I'll wait." Lucy wanted to be here when they returned.

Agent Christopher left her to make a phone call which is when Lucy thought to get her own phone from the lockers downstairs.

There were several missed calls and text messages. Mostly from her Mother and someone programmed in her phone as 'Noah'. They started out asking where she was and Lucy remembered her mother telling her not to forget something that was suppose to take place the night after she'd left for 1865. She was now finding out from her Mother's irate texts and voicemails that it was her engagement party. Apparently this Noah person was her fiancé now. His messages sounded more hurt than angry. The later ones were filled with concern and then panic so she hit the button to call her Mother back first...

 **To Be Continued...**


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note **: I'm sure most of you have picked up that it's helpful to re-watch the episodes alongside this. I know I mention a lot of details from the first season that you may not have seen in a while and I don't rehash events that I'm keeping the same as what happened originally. I feel like that would be redundant and a waste of your time given that they're on screen. However, if something is too puzzling or you don't know where I got it from, let me know and I'll get back to you. I've been referencing the first three episodes a LOT while writing this and have had to jump around to some others for more specific things I wanted to bring up sooner. I hope you're all still enjoying this.**

* * *

Lucy had fallen asleep at the conference table for several hours before waking up only slightly better off. She'd come back up after spending an hour on the phone with her Mother. She'd had to tell her she was a historical consultant on a confidential project at Mason Industries and she unexpectedly hadn't been allowed to leave or make any phone calls after she'd gotten here a few days ago. Otherwise she would have let them know she wouldn't make it to the engagement party. Carol could be an absolute handful and it took forever to satisfy her enough before Lucy could end the call.

The conversation with Noah is one she kept short. She didn't even know what the guy looked like but he sounded nice. Poor man had called the police before Homeland Security swooped in and informed them she wasn't missing, but on assignment. Of course they'd kept it vague and Lucy stuck to their example, telling him even less than she told her Mom which was hardly anything. That call ended with a promise that they would sit down and talk about it a little more or as much as she was legally allowed to.

Fiancés were the bane of Lucy's existence these past few days. She could stand not having one at all, particularly if she wasn't in love with them and/or didn't even know them. Men and their stupid rings, one of which was still on her hand. It was Mary Todd Lincoln's and it was technically over 150 years old. Engagement rings weren't really much of a thing in the 1800's but Robert obviously liked the idea of giving her this physical manifestation of his promise. The Lucy from this timeline apparently had one from Noah but God only knows where that one was and if Noah hadn't sounded so sweet on the phone she wouldn't even care. But how must this make him feel? And how horrible had Robert felt? He never got married after her disappearance and his Mother's ring was lost to add insult to injury.

Mary Todd. That was another one. A cursory search online had told her that the First Lady suffered much the same as she had in Lucy's original timeline history. Robert still committed her to a sanitarium about a decade after the President had died in 1867. She hadn't even had her ring from her husband to hold onto. Why? Because it was stolen by a time traveling interloper who galavanted off to another century with it.

Lucy put her head in her hands. Why was all this happening? The world was spinning and nothing seemed to make any sense anymore. She wished Amy were here. She would know what to say. Younger by seven years yet Amy was the best medicine for almost anything. Always there with sound advice that Lucy had often wished she were brave enough to take. _If only you could see me now, Amy. I've had to be more brave than I ever thought I could be. For once I_ am _brave enough to take your advice and you're not here to give it._

The thought was on the verge of making Lucy cry when she heard a rumbling. She felt it in the very chair she was on. Just as she turned around, she saw the Lifeboat appear for the first time from the outside and ran down to meet the guys coming out of it.

"Well, maybe if you knew your ass from a hole in the ground, you'd have known she was important!" Wyatt was yelling at a man Lucy didn't recognize. Must be the historian from Princeton, a Professor Stewart, if she wasn't mistaken.

"Take it easy, Man," Rufus said.

"Take it easy? We wouldn't have even found out what Flynn got his hands on if we hadn't run back into her! We'd still be chasing our tails around Vegas, not even knowing that he'd left!"

The short older balding man was sputtering to try and defend himself. "It's not as if I had any materials to reference!"

"Lucy never brings along a damn library to look things up and she remembers all of it just fine!"

"Lucy!" Rufus yelled when he saw her. The pilot crushed her in a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay! When did-"

"Hey, Lucy." Wyatt was walking up as well. "Tell me something. Who is Judith Campbell?"

"She was JFK's Mistress and she was also with Sam Giancana. She passed messages back and forth from the Government to the Mob. Not a lot of people know her but she was at the dead center of 1960's politics. Very key in-" Lucy would have kept going but Wyatt made a hand gesture as if to say 'see?' before looking back at Professor Stewart.

"I didn't say I didn't know who she was. I knew Judith was involved with JFK. I just didn't remember what she had to do with Castro or any Army personnel with access to-"

"Genius here is the reason we didn't figure out Flynn was after, and get this, a-" Wyatt was then interrupted by Lucy.

"The Plutonium Core of an Atomic Bomb?"

"Damn, you're good." Rufus was amazed.

"That's it! I've had enough of this! Enjoy your little scenic trips to talk to 1960's prostitutes!" And with that, Stewart was waddling his way towards the exit. Agent Christopher was trying to slow him down, most likely to debrief him and get assurances that he understands he will be under penalty of treason if he tells anyone about what he knows.

"God, it's good to see you again." Wyatt sounded like he was finally breathing fresh air. "We thought Flynn would have you in Vegas. How did-"

"He left me here and one of his guys let me go after he knew you'd gone to '62. He didn't want me there to help."

"Croatian Psycho obviously knows we're lost without you. Can you believe Princeton hired that guy?" Rufus gestured to where Stewart had stormed out. "Wait, why did Flynn let you go at all? Not that I'm not thrilled. Totally am. Just..."

Lucy laughed a little at his floundering. "It's okay, I get it. As far as Flynn, I don't really know. Maybe he thinks he can beat us that easily that he doesn't see the need to kill me or keep me as a hostage?" She wasn't lying that she didn't really know but she did know it wasn't the suggestion she offered.

They spent another half hour getting each other up to speed and then Lucy left to go home and rest. When she walked out, Rufus had busied himself with Jiya trying to pin down where Flynn was now that the Mothership was back in present day. Wyatt had muttered something about looking up if a telegram went through before going to find Agent Christopher to let her know how everything had gone. She must have had her hands full when the worthless Princeton Professor stormed out otherwise she would have been with them sooner.

/

* * *

/

Garcia sat waiting for Anthony to get things set up to put the Plutonium in its battery casing for the Mothership. Wyatt would be coming with a swat team at the last moment but wouldn't make it before they took off for 1944 Germany. The classical music was driving Karl nuts. Not that he'd said anything yet but Garcia knew he would. Anthony's process would take some time so he sat down with Lucy's journal as he frequently did when he went through all this initially.

There were a few things about it this time around that he found very interesting. A lot of the entries were the same but there were some things added and some missing all together. Lucy had included the part about Jessica being Rittenhouse. That hadn't been in there before. Lucy obviously thought there was a chance he hadn't permanently taken care of Jessica in 2012. That somehow Jessica could still reappear. And if she warned him of Jessica's involvement in the cult, that meant she expected him to do something about it. Which meant Jiya wouldn't get taken, Rufus wouldn't die and so, then, neither would Garcia himself. Lucy was trying to save him.

There were also little sentences here and there that were slipped into pages he'd already read. He knew they were new because he'd had the thing memorized even before the first time he took the Mothership.

 _"Keep yourself open to the possibilities and don't let what you think is suppose to happen talk you out of going for what you want."_

He knew Lucy too well to think she wasn't talking about herself. She was referring to the conversation they had on their last trip together in 1848. He'd thought she would end up with Wyatt anyway so there was no point starting anything. Thinking back, he should have paid more attention. Lucy had shown her interest. When he said he wasn't her type, she told him he didn't know anything about her type. She mentioned seeing another side to him and seemed disappointed when he shut her down with a comment of her heart always having belonged to someone else. The Lucy from 2023 was telling him to ignore things with her and Wyatt. She was telling him to go for it. Go for her.

Then there was the matter of the Titanic log and beyond. It was still in there even though that hadn't happened in her Timeline. And the pages mentioning their relationship ending badly? Those were gone. There were no pages talking about Future Lucy and Wyatt showing up with an upgraded Lifeboat. Nothing about the trip to the Gold Rush. But there was an especially interesting note at the end...

 _"If it ever comes down to a major sacrifice and you going it alone, think it through. There's another way. You are not expendable, Garcia. You never have been and you never will be. It's not for the best for you to pay for someone else's mistakes. I know some how, some way, we will save the people we love. Don't give up hope. You were everything I imagined and more. Don't doubt that._

 _All my love, Lucy."_

The first time he read that after going through it more thoroughly after Brazil, he'd been knocked off his feet. He felt like he couldn't breathe. She had referenced his note and things he'd said to her with no idea who she was really giving her journal to this time. She didn't realize he would know exactly what she was talking about before any of it came to pass.

She had shown up in São Paulo with Wyatt and a wedding band on her finger. He assumed she was married to the soldier. He was almost positive. The only thing he could come to after all of this is that she wasn't happy. Whatever life she had in 2023 wasn't what she wanted and Lucy was giving herself another chance. She was giving _them_ another chance. She was hitting the reset button. She also had on that burgundy dress with white polka dots and he hadn't missed the significance. Lucy's words that day had slightly contradicted the newly added note in the journal but then he remembered Wyatt and Rufus has been in earshot. She was saying what she had to.

When she'd gone in to kiss his cheek, he barely resisted the urge to catch her lips but that would have been a mistake, at least at that point. Watching her look back at him one last time with that pleading glance before walking out the door... Garcia understood what she was asking of him. _Change our future, Flynn._

Karl then suggested listening to Black Sabbath while Anthony took out the Plutonium for the last stage which told Garcia that Wyatt was outside. It was time to go.

 **To Be Continued...**


	9. Chapter 9

**December 9th, 1944. Germany.**

Lucy stood in the back storage shack behind the bar with Wyatt, Rufus and a man who had just introduced himself as Ian Fleming. Her excitement was quickly squashed when she remembered Flynn's words.

 _"Oh, and if James Bond asks you to marry him, save us both some trouble and just say 'no'."_ Lucy had to put a significant effort into not rolling her eyes.

Of course they ran into the real life James Bond. Her mind turned to the journal that Flynn always had with him. As ridiculous as it seemed, that was the only way he could have known what was going to happen. As far as she was aware, no one knew of Fleming's exact locations during the war. The chances of them running into him were beyond unlikely and they wouldn't have even spoken to him if he hadn't overheard them ordering the '23 Rémy Martin. On top of that, most people would have gone to the Castle Rufus mentioned was in the area but Lucy just so happened to remember accounts of this tavern. If a future version of herself didn't write that journal, she would really love to know who did. She still clung to the hope that it was some elaborate trick but that was fading.

With a couple exceptions thus far, Lucy's choices had played right into it. Clearly the thing didn't have all the answers but Flynn was going through these events and using it like a cheat sheet where he pleased. It made her want to walk in the opposite direction of Ian Fleming and not look back. Just to put a wrench in things. Acting like a petulant child however, wouldn't get her anywhere. Flynn still had a nuke and they still had a job to do.

Ian being flirty was flattering but after her experience with Robert Lincoln, she wasn't as game to flirt back as she may have been otherwise. Being stand-offish around Fleming only seemed to fuel his efforts though. He was definitely an attractive and suave man but it was annoying. The little looks, the winks, the way he would always make sure to touch her when they were in close proximity. She was two seconds away from telling him to back the hell off when he put his hand on hers on the railing in Castle Varlar. His suggestion to distract Von Braun was a welcome idea and she set off to do just that.

Wyatt had tried to be helpful while she was putting the finishing touches on her Nazi uniform but she didn't have much patience for him. She could tell he was a good guy and he was trying to get her through this and maybe she would have connected with him and Rufus more if she'd gone on the Vegas mission but she hadn't. Rufus had made a comment about how they were still struggling to gel as a team. He was right. Lucy felt bad because Wyatt had only been trying to help but she'd told him to back off. Now he was being a little cold which she understood.

She had to push that out of her head though. She'd gotten to the bottom of the stairs, made eye contact with Von Braun and began walking over when a large hand grabbed her arm and tugged her to the left. Before she got a clear glimpse of who it was, she was on the other side of a thick door from the party with a tall, intense Croatian.

"I was wondering when you'd get here."

"This is about Von Braun." Lucy didn't waste any time. "What I don't understand is, why don't you just kill him? Unless..."

"I've always admired how clever you are, Lucy. Yes, the Soviets." Flynn was smirking and it pissed her off.

"Stop doing that!"

"Doing what?"

"Knowing what I'm going to say and do before I do it!" Lucy was sick of that stupid journal that apparently told him everything he needed to know about her. Her every move and thought. Her emotions and ideas. So what could she do that couldn't be predicted? What was the last thing anyone would guess?

Looking at this tall, sinister man, Lucy had a thought. A crazy thought but one she didn't think he'd see coming.

Flynn had been about to say something when she grabbed his peak pinstripe lapels, dragging him down to her. She saw his eyes go wide right before her lips met his. Initially, it did have the desired effect. He quickly took a surprised inhale through his nose and his arms and hands froze. Lucy was on the verge of shoving him back with a satisfied smile when his surprise suddenly faded and his arms wrapped around her waist. Now it was her turn to gasp as he kissed her a second time and kept going. He was the kind of man you'd be afraid to kiss because you simply didn't know what you'd get if you did. If it hadn't been for her desperation to get him on his toes, Lucy wouldn't have. He had the kind of face that was perfect for a bad guy. He's good looking but not in a way that relaxes you. Business-like and refined yet able to be rough and get things done. Just ambiguous enough though that you don't know for sure if he's bad.

One of his hands went into her hair and Lucy was realizing that the tables had turned. He was coming at her with a passion that she couldn't understand. Where had it come from? For that matter, where was her reaction to _him_ coming from? Her stomach muscles clenched and heat struck her core and spread to her face. Her arms had found their way around his neck and somewhere in the sweltering haze of a kiss she didn't want to stop, what felt like a vague memory hit her like a battering ram.

Lucy couldn't say where it came from. An overwhelming emotion flooded her senses. Loss combined with heartache, devotion and the kind of intense love you have for someone you would do literally anything for. Without knowing why, Lucy suddenly had the strong desire to beg Flynn. Beg him to stay, beg him to be safe, beg him to never leave her, never stop touching her and...

She felt tears running down her cheeks. "Why did you abandon me like that? Why did you sacrifice yourself?" Yet again, Lucy was lost as to what had possessed her to say such a thing. What the hell was she talking about? Abandon her? When did he abandon her? When had he sacrificed himself and caused her to feel such loss? A hollow black abyss tore at her from somewhere deep inside. It was soul crushing. The kind of pain that makes you wish you were dead if it meant you didn't have to feel this way. But the more she tried to analyze it, the more it was disappearing. It had been on the tip of her brain. She almost had it and then it was gone.

It was then that Lucy realized Flynn had backed away from her. He looked as though he was afraid to touch her. "You start to remember when I touch you, don't you? And then it goes away?"

"Remember what?"

"In another world Lucy, you and I, we became allies. We even became friends. And something more-"

"Something more? You claim that these Rittenhouse people killed your family and that somehow we had what? An affair? And I don't remember?" Lucy was getting worked up. Nothing that he was saying was making any sense and sometimes the things coming out of her own mouth were nonsensical. Where were they coming from and why was it not weird to him? Why was he going along with it? Was that his game? Did he get some thrill out making her feel crazy.

"Lucy, you're not listening to me. The life that you have had so far isn't what I'm talking about."

"Oh, right, the future huh?" She huffed in disbelief. "The future that this journal of mine tells you all about?"

"If you think this is all so crazy, if you really weren't getting glimpses of the truth, then why did you kiss me?!" Flynn grabbed her again and hauled her close. Her face heated again, her heart raced and everything in her was telling her that she knew this man. Lucy could feel his familiarity. She could hear incoherent bits of conversations that she had somehow had with him and yet those exchanges were ones that she knew never happened.

"I did it to throw you off!" It was partly a lie. She also kind of wanted to.

Flynn's plan was changing mid-stride. He suddenly wanted to see what would happen. What could she remember if given the chance? Just as he beat his former self in 2012, could he bring back his Lucy? Could he unearth her in this younger version? The risk wasn't insignificant but he had to know.

His lips came down to hers this time. Flynn didn't give her a chance to avoid him. Why had he not done this all that time ago when they were in the bunker? They must have talked in his room dozens of times and yet he never took anything further. There had been possible openings and he had simply left them alone because why? He didn't think she really wanted him or because he thought he didn't deserve her? Maybe a little of both. She'd been right in front of him all that time and he had wasted his chances then. But not now. He was going to try his luck and see what memories he could bring to the surface for her. See what this whole phenomena really was.

Lucy made a ditch effort at resisting at first but that didn't last longer than two seconds. It was plain to her that even though she didn't want to admit it, she was attracted to this man. As evil as he may have initially come across, he certainly wasn't ugly. The muscles and height didn't hurt either nor did the accent.

The feelings began to arise again within her. Lucy cared for Flynn. She knew him somehow and in a way that the others didn't. They didn't know how he could be. They didn't see the side to him that she saw. And even while thinking all this, Lucy had no idea where she was getting it. How did she know him so well? What world was it that she was remembering? The images came slowly and out of order. As his lips moved across hers and his fingers slid into her hair, Lucy could see him in a turtle neck eating cereal. She could see him smirk at a frustrated Wyatt. His voice rang through to her from somewhere deep inside telling her that she was worth more than she thought. He encouraged her and built her up while others tore her down.

The trickle of information, slow at first came faster and faster. Flynn dressed as a pilgrim, throwing an axe to save her. Flynn holding her as she cried over her mother and the whole terrible situation. The roar of voices became louder. She even heard her own. _"Why didn't you tell me we were going to be together?... I must have seen a different side to you. I guess I've already started to."_ She _knew_ him. Lucy truly knew Garcia Flynn. She didn't know how it was possible but she knew he was a good man. She knew the truth about him. But he shouldn't be kissing her. This wasn't right. A voice inside Lucy told her that this isn't how it was suppose to happen. What did that even mean?

"It didn't happen like this." Lucy pushed him away unexpectedly. "How are you getting in my head?! How are you doing this? What- I- What the hell are you doing to me?!"

"I'm not some evil villain trying to tempt you to the 'dark side', Lucy" He gave a short laugh at how ridiculous it sounded. "I'm not trying to trick you. I do have an idea of what is happening when you and I are close but the truth is, I'm not 100% certain. But this I can promise you; come with me and I will do everything I can to help you figure out what you're in the middle of. I'll tell you what I can and we can solve it. Together." He waited and looked into her confused gaze. She didn't know what to think. "You may not know where these memories are coming from but I know you can sense that you can trust me. Just let it in. I am on your side. I am always on your side, Lucy. You-"

"Stop! Just stop!" She was backing away from him. The feelings she'd had were fading as were the words she thought she had remembered. Just like a dream slips away. It only left her feeling foolish. It all was so believable when it happened but as soon as it receded, Lucy was able to cling to the hope that it was just a momentary episode brought on by the PTSD she must be getting from everything that this madman was putting her through.

At that moment the door swung open and a Nazi commander walked in with other soldiers in tow. "Is this the British spy's accomplice you told us of?" He asked in German. It was like cold water being thrown on the whole situation. Thinking he would stick to the playbook earlier, Flynn had told them about Fleming and the time team. He regretted it now. If he had only had a few moments more, he thought he might be able to convince Lucy to go with him. Maybe he should change the game completely. This particular adventure now had to go as it had gone before. Lucy would have to be confined to that room with the secret exit through the fireplace and he would just have to get her alone in D.C. in '72.

Flynn took a deep breath and confirmed the commander's question. He steeled himself, backed up and let go of the moment he'd had with Lucy. Going through the motions for this one was really going to be more of a pain than the previous times.

* * *

Present Day

Lucy relaxed into the chair at the long table in the conference room. She was debriefing with Agent Christopher. "So, we handed over Von Braun and said goodbye to Fleming."

"Connor's right, that's just like the plot of 'weapon of choice'."

"That Bond movie that now exists. Right." Lucy was exhausted as she normally was after these missions. She wondered if it would ever get any easier. Would she ever come back feeling happy and triumphant and not like they just barely won?

"I looked over the detailed summary for the book it's based on. It says that you were dragged into a room by Flynn and wouldn't speak of what transpired after you came out. Was that accurate, Lucy? Did something happen to you?" Again, Agent Christopher thought Flynn may have violated her. He hadn't of course. Unless you counted the assault on her mind and emotions when he was close. She still couldn't make sense of that.

"Like I told you once before, no. He wouldn't do something like that to me. He's not like that." Lucy only realized her mistake after the words were out. She shouldn't have shown such familiarity with Flynn. Of course Agent Christopher picked up on it.

"Are you... Um, do you feel you're starting to understand him?" There was a kindness in her voice but also suspicion as well. She was trying to deem if Lucy was compromised or not. Whether she could safely continue these missions and not risk everything they were trying to accomplish.

"It's not like that. I still want to stop him. I'm just learning more about what he is and is not likely capable of. It's good to know your enemy, right?"

The woman across from her didn't seem to be very reassured.

An hour more of questions and talking through what she saw and heard. During which Lucy didn't reveal anything about her time alone with Flynn. Just a vague story of how he threatened her and the team and told her they should stop following him if they knew what was good for them. The typical things you would expect from a bad guy. Because how could she say anything about the memories she had but could no longer recall? How could she tell Agent Christopher what she felt? The truth was, she was feeling sympathetic towards him. She wanted to believe him because somewhere deep inside, she knew she could.

Even though the specifics had slipped away, there were still the gut feelings. Those at least were left for her to puzzle over. She felt like Garcia was right. That he understood her and knew her. She felt that he was someone that she knew as well. Somehow, someway, they had spent time together. They had grown to trust one another and count on each other. But where and when did all of this happen? She didn't know. In some future of hers that Lucy hadn't experienced yet? Was Agent Christopher hiding things from her? Did Connor Mason know more than he was letting on?

So many things left unanswered and they just kept piling up. By the time Lucy was done with the debrief she was very ready to go home. She made it clear to Agent Christopher that getting her sister back was her price for continuing to travel with the team. Flynn had said he would take her to save Amy and oddly enough, she was more inclined to trust that he could and would do it than Anyone in the Government or Mason Industries but Lucy didn't want to put all her eggs in one basket.

Agent Christopher requested to speak to Wyatt next. Seemed a little ominous but Lucy didn't want to stick around to see what that was all about. She was headed home.


End file.
